Budget Airlines Increase Flights to Okinawa

26 Nov 2014 01:19:13

english.chosun.com

Travelers who fly from Incheon to Okinawa will soon have more low-cost options as Jeju Air and T'way Air start flights on the fast-growing route in December. Jin Air, a subsidiary of Korean Air, has offered flights since 2012.

As they approach a 70 percent share of the route, budget airlines are likely to quickly come to dominate air travel between the two cities that had been the territory of legacy carrier Asiana since 1992.

Jeju Air will fly a B737-800 with 180 seats on the route daily from next Monday, and T'way Air will offer a flight to Japan's resort island once daily during Christmas and the end of the year.

In anticipation of heated competition, Jin Air doubled its weekly flights to 14 last month. Asiana also increased flights from seven to 11 per week early this week.

Airlines are scrambling to get a share of growing travel spending by tourists. Roughly 183,000 Korean tourists visited Okinawa last year, and that number has grown to 197,000 as of September this year.

Read full story: english.chosun.com