Jeju Air Co., South Korea's biggest low-cost carrier, said Sunday it will bring in a cargo plane in the first half of this year to ride out the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

Jeju Air signed a lease agreement to begin operating a cargo plane for the first time among local LCCs, the company said in a statement, amid efforts to offset a sharply reduced passenger travel demand amid the pandemic.

"We plan to expand our business in cargo transportation to diversify our source of revenue," a Jeju Air official said.

The low-cost carrier said it has leased the 737-800 Boeing Converted Freighter (BCF) -- the same model as the company's chartered passenger jets -- to reduce costs for operating the plane.

Korean Air Lines Co. and Asiana Airlines Inc., the country's two biggest and full-service carriers, accounted for nearly 70 percent of the local air cargo market from January to October last year, according to a recent report by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. (Yonhap)