Global Courant
SEOUL — South Korean airlines have decided to reduce the number of routes between South Korea and China during the summer peak season, due to less-than-expected passenger demand for travel between the two countries, according to industry sources at Sunday.
Flag carrier Korean Air said it will cease operating routes between Gimpo International Airport and Beijing from August 1 to October 28, while routes between Incheon Airport and Xian will also be suspended from August 9 to October 28.
The country’s second-largest airline, Asiana Airlines, also said it has suspended flights on its Incheon-Xian route since Tuesday.
The airline is considering reducing the number of flights between Gimpo and Beijing from July 6. The Incheon-Shenzhen route will also be suspended from July 8. All three routes will resume on October 28.
The suspension of major flight routes comes as the number of Chinese passengers flying to South Korea has declined in recent years and demand from South Koreans to travel to China has also fallen amid deteriorating relations between the two countries.
According to data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the number of passengers flying from China to South Korea from January to May was 1.2 million, which was 60 percent of the number recorded during the same period in 2020 . at the start of the pandemic, at 1.99 million.
The number of Koreans flying to China also declined, with the share of South Korean passengers on flights to China falling from 15.5 percent to 5 percent over the past three years.
The declining number of Chinese passengers flying to South Korea is largely attributed to China’s continued ban on group tourism to South Korea.
In February, China resumed issuing visas that had been suspended for nearly three years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, of the countries China allowed its citizens to travel in groups, South Korea was excluded, along with the United States, Japan, Germany and Australia.
The move has been interpreted as retaliation against the Korean government’s decision in February to limit the issuance of visas for inbound travelers from China, citing the risk of the spread of Covid-19. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
