The Korea Herald

소아쌤

5 local airports to resume operating 22 international routes in June

By Hong Yoo

Published : May 25, 2022 - 16:00

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Gimpo Airport (Yonhap) Gimpo Airport (Yonhap)
Starting next month, South Korea and Japan will resume flight services between Seoul’s Gimpo and Tokyo’s Haneda airports.

Korea Airports Corp. said during its regular briefing Tuesday that it is currently discussing the exact date and immigration procedures with the Japanese government before reopening flights between Gimpo and Haneda.

Once resumed, there will be 16 flights provided every week by Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways.

The air route has been closed since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Flight services are expected to resume sometime between June 1 and June 8, according to Korea Airports Corp.

International routes from four other airports, including Gimhae in Busan, Jeju Island, Daegu and Yangyang in Gangwon Province will be resumed in June as well.

Korea Airports Corp. said 136 flights on 22 international routes will fly out from these airports every week.

From Gimhae Airport, there will be 76 flights on 13 international routes to Guam, Saipan, Fukuoka in Japan, Bangkok, Singapore and Cebu in the Philippines operating weekly.

Jeju International Airport will have 10 flights on two international routes, to Singapore and Bangkok.

From Daegu Airport, there will be 26 flights on four international routes to Yanji in China, Danang in Vietnam, Bangkok and Cebu.

Yangyang Airport will have eight flights on two international routes to Bangkok and Angeles in the Philippines.

“This year is not a time for recovery to pre-COVID-19 levels but a time for a leap forward in the new aviation industry. We will continue to closely cooperate with the aviation and tourism industry to recover both domestic and international flight demand, and also focus on the future development of smart airport and urban air mobility,” said Korea Airports Corp. President and CEO Yoon Hyeong-joon.

The state-run airport management company expects to see around 2.52 million passengers flying abroad from domestic airports, excluding Incheon Airport, this year.

This is 12.4 percent of the figure from the pre-coronavirus period in 2019.

In 2019, there were more than 20.32 million people flying abroad from seven airports, excluding Incheon.