SEOUL, June 15 (AJP) - Low-cost carrier Jeju Air carried more than 1 million passengers in May, maintaining its lead among budget carriers in South Korea, according to data released by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport released on Monday.
It carried 1.11 million passengers in May, up 7.6 percent from 1.03 million a year earlier, as demand rose around long weekends in early and late May including Children's Day and Buddha's Birthday, while short-haul international travel to Japan and Taiwan also increased.
The number of domestic passengers totaled 424,036, up 1.9 percent from a year earlier, while international passengers rose 11.5 percent to 683,513.
It became the only domestic budget carrier to exceed 1 million passengers every month in the first five months of this year, carrying 5.5 million passengers in total, up 19.8 percent from a year earlier and the highest among LCCs. It accounted for 23.3 percent of the no-frills market, meaning about one in four budget travelers flew with the carrier.
The carrier, in particular, saw demand increase on short-haul international routes linking Jeju with Tokyo, Taipei and Weihai, as travelers sought relatively affordable destinations.
To meet demand, Jeju Air has expanded capacity with four additional daily round trips between Gimpo and Jeju since late March and has been operating trial flights linking Incheon and Jeju since late last month.
It will also increase flights from Incheon to Tokyo from 45 a week in July to 49 in August, while flights to Fukuoka will rise to 34 from August.
It carried 1.11 million passengers in May, up 7.6 percent from 1.03 million a year earlier, as demand rose around long weekends in early and late May including Children's Day and Buddha's Birthday, while short-haul international travel to Japan and Taiwan also increased.
The number of domestic passengers totaled 424,036, up 1.9 percent from a year earlier, while international passengers rose 11.5 percent to 683,513.
It became the only domestic budget carrier to exceed 1 million passengers every month in the first five months of this year, carrying 5.5 million passengers in total, up 19.8 percent from a year earlier and the highest among LCCs. It accounted for 23.3 percent of the no-frills market, meaning about one in four budget travelers flew with the carrier.
The carrier, in particular, saw demand increase on short-haul international routes linking Jeju with Tokyo, Taipei and Weihai, as travelers sought relatively affordable destinations.
To meet demand, Jeju Air has expanded capacity with four additional daily round trips between Gimpo and Jeju since late March and has been operating trial flights linking Incheon and Jeju since late last month.
It will also increase flights from Incheon to Tokyo from 45 a week in July to 49 in August, while flights to Fukuoka will rise to 34 from August.
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