South Korea’s low-cost carrier (LCC) leader Jeju Air has decided to expand its flight service to China to offset falling profits in its flight operations to Japanese destinations, a main culprit behind the recent rollback of flights to Japan by many local airlines.

The company announced Tuesday that it has added one B737 aircraft to its fleet, meeting its target to secure a fleet of 45 by the end of this year with the addition of new six units of aircrafts.

Jeju Air’s B737 jets fitted with 189 seats will be used on new routes from Incheon, Jeju, Busan and Muan of Korea to Yanji, Jinan and Zhangjiajie of China starting August. Flights from Incheon, Korea to Macau and Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia will also be expanded to better respond to changing market conditions, according to the company.

The number of outbound air travelers to Japan has dropped sharply in Korea due to wide-spreading consumer boycott against Japanese brands amid a deepening diplomatic and trade row between Seoul and Tokyo following Japan’s decision to curb export of high-tech materials necessary to manufacture Korea’s two mainstay export items displays and semiconductors. Korean LCCs that have rapidly grown with expansion of flight operations to Japan are rolling back the routes despite their weight in revenue due to plunged demand for traveling to the neighboring country.

As part of efforts to cope with the latest challenge, Jeju Air has decided to actively explore new destinations in China to offset a possible decline in revenue. It hopes the addition of its services from or to Yanji and Zhangjiajie, popular tourist destinations among Koreans, would help attract more travelers from both Korea and China.

Jeju Air earlier in May was granted permission to operate nine lucrative flight routes between Korea and China including one from Incheon to Beijing and one from Muan to Zhangjiajie. It is planning to launch the routes in the latter half of this year to service flights for 35 times a week.

By Kang Gye-man and Lee Ha-yeon

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]