Gimpo-China flights recover to pre-pandemic levels

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

Lifestyle

Tue, September 26, 2023 | 07:47

Travel & Food

Gimpo-China flights recover to pre-pandemic levels

Posted : 2023-03-27 17:05

Updated : 2023-03-28 15:25

Travelers departing from Gimpo wait in line to board their flights to Beijing and Shanghai at Gimpo International Airport, Monday, after flights between the two countries departing from the airport resumed to pre-pandemic levels. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

By Lee Hae-rin

The number of flights between Gimpo International Airport and Chinese destinations has recovered to pre-pandemic levels, according to the Korea Airports Corp. (KAC), Monday.

The airport operator said the total weekly flights between Gimpo and the Chinese cities of Beijing and Shanghai returned to 56 as of Sunday, after a three-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Four airlines ― Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, Air China and China Southern Airlines ― will each operate seven flights per week between Gimpo and Beijing.

Among them, China Southern Airlines' newly-launched air route will fly to Beijing's Daxing International Airport ― the Chinese capital's second airport that opened before the pandemic in September 2019. Daxing is also the world's biggest airport that is expected to handle up to 100 million passengers in the future.

Between Gimpo and Shanghai, a total of 28 weekly flights will be restored to pre-pandemic levels with four air carriers ― Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, China Eastern Airlines and Shanghai ― each operating seven flights per week.

On Monday, the KAC held a commemorative event at Gimpo airport's international terminal. High-ranking officials of the KAC and the airlines, as well as Chinese Ambassador to Korea Xing Haiming were invited to the event.

Korea Airports Corp. (KAC) President and CEO Yoon Hyeong-jung, sixth from left, and Chinese Ambassador to Korea Xing Haiming, attend a tape cutting ceremony with high-ranking officials from airlines to mark the resumption of flights between Gimpo and China at Gimpo International Airport, Monday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

"Before the pandemic, the exchange between the two countries was very dynamic, with around 10 million annual travelers and 1,200 weekly flights," Chinese Ambassador to Korea Xing Haiming told The Korea Times, highlighting the importance of a resumption in exchanges between the two countries.

He explained that both countries still see high travel demand from tourists and business people. The resumption of flights between Gimpo and China will "create a new dynamic in human resource exchanges and economic cooperation between the two countries," he said.

"After three years of wearing masks, we are very glad to finally see the restoration (of exchanges between the two countries). We wish to see more exchanges in the future," the ambassador said.

With the restoration of flights to China, Gimpo airport resumed all five travel routes that connected Korea, China and Japan before the pandemic. The airport saw flights recover to Japan's Haneda airport in June last year and additional resumptions of routes to Osaka and Taipei last October.

KAC, which operates 14 airports nationwide except Incheon International Airport, saw over 1.2 million passengers from China and over 2.7 million from Japan in 2019, before the pandemic.

Meanwhile, night flights between Incheon and Tokyo, which were also halted in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, also resumed, Monday, after a three-year hiatus.

The resumed flights depart from Tokyo's Haneda airport every morning at 2 a.m. and land in Incheon at 4:34 a.m. and expected to revive one-day or weekend travel itineraries sought by young working Japanese.

Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC) estimates to see additional demand from 86,000 passengers and 67,000 transit visitors combined from resumed flights between Incheon and Haneda.

lhr@koreatimes.co.kr