Occupancy rate of S.Korean LCCs for int’l flights hits 87%

The average occupancy rate (AOR) on international flights of South Korea’s low-cost carriers (LCCs) has exceeded 80%, fully recovering to its pre-COVID-19 level. 

Driving this trend is surging demand for LCC flights to and from Japan and Southeast Asia, and such carriers also seek to raise their global market share by resuming service to China.

Airportal, the flight data portal of South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, on Wednesday said the AOR of international flights on domestic LCCs in the first half of the year was 87.1%, up from 83.5% in the same period of 2019. The airline industry considers 80% the break-even point.

Air Busan, which has had its Busan-Bangkok and Incheon-Bangkok routes for a year since the government declared “coexistence with the coronavirus,” saw both flights recording an AOR of 84%.

Having sufficiently raised their AORs for Southeast Asia and Japan routes, the LCCs are implementing a strategy of boosting service to China under a flexible operating policy amid rapidly fluctuating market conditions and demand.

The country’s No. 1 LCC Jeju Air will resume Jeju Island-Macao service from Tuesday,  Incheon-Hong Kong from Aug. 1 and Jeju Island-Beijing from Aug. 2. T’way Air will restart its Cheongju-Yanji, China, route on Friday, and Air Busan its Busan-Macao flight on Tuesday. 

Air Seoul, which mainly operates Japanese routes, will also recommence service to Hong Kong around October.

“Following their expansion of Japan and Southeast Asia routes, LCCs entering the second half of the year have started launching new flights or resuming suspended ones to Greater China in a bid to expand their share of the market for short- to mid-distance international routes,” an airline industry source said.

Greater China refers to Mandarin-speaking countries in East Asia like mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, where the majority are culturally and ethnically Han Chinese.

Write to Mi-Sun Kang at misunny@hankyung.com