Jin Air Co., the low-cost carrier unit of Korean Air Co., said Friday it will open the Incheon-Nagoya route in September on growing travel demand to Japan.

Jin Air plans to provide two flights a day on the Nagoya route from Sept. 15, the company said in a statement.

The budget carrier currently offers flights to seven Japanese cities from Incheon and the southeastern port city of Busan.

Jin Air swung to a net profit of 60 billion won ($45 million) in the January-March quarter from a net loss of 31 billion won a year earlier.

Resumed flights on existing international routes to Southeast Asia and Japan, and new routes to Okinawa, Sapporo and Nha Trang helped the company make a turnaround in the first quarter.

Jin Air also shifted to an operating profit of 84.9 billion won in the March quarter from an operating loss of 46.4 billion won a year ago. Sales more than quintupled to 352.5 billion won from 67.5 billion won.

The company plans to focus on further diversifying routes and securing its workforce amid a global economic slowdown in the coming quarters.

It operates 23 international routes and 13 domestic ones with a fleet of 27 planes, consisting of 23 B737s and four B777-200ERs. (Yonhap)