Seoul (VNA) – Airlines ofthe Republic of Korea (RoK) have switched their focus to the Southeast Asianmarkets and Taiwan amidst recent tension in RoK-Japan relations.
Air Busan has decided to withdrawaircraft from flights to Japan for others to Taiwan. From September, theairline will increase the number of flights from Busan to Taipei from 14 to 17per week, and from Busan to Kaohsiung from seven to nine flights per week.
Meanwhile, T’way Air will launch aBusan-Kaohsiung route from September 6 with four flights per week, whilepreparing more aircraft for the Busan-Taichung and Incheon-Taichung routes.
From September 17, Jeju Air willstart operating a new route from Daegu to Cebu in the Philippines, whileincreasing the number of flights from Incheon to Da Nang of Vietnam from sevento 14 per week from September.
Inthe next two months, Asiana Airlines will double the number of flights fromIncheon to Da Nang to 14 flights per week.
Meanwhile,Korean Air has decided to raise the number of flights to Clark Airport in thePhilippines, Da Nang of Vietnam, Chiang Mai of Thailand, and Bali of Indonesia.
RoK-Japantension has escalated after Tokyo decided to limit exports of some materialsfor electronic chips and screens to the RoK and exclude the country from a listof partners enjoying trade incentives.
OnAugust 12, the RoK announced it would remove Japan from the list of 29countries receiving preferential policies in exports of certain products fromSeptember this year.
Koreantourists have also visited Southeast Asian countries instead of Japan. Thenumber of passengers to Japan in July reduced by 10,000 people compared to thesame time last year to 133,000.
Thenumber of passengers from Gimpo and Incheon airports of the RoK to Saga, Oitaand Miyazaki in Kyushu islands of Japan dropped 86 percent, 69 percent and 76percent year on year, respectively.-VNA