Korean Air has announced its plans to adjust the frequency of some routes due to decreasing demand of Japanese routes because of Korea-Japan tensions.
The airline will suspend the Busan-Osaka route, which has 14 flights a week, from 16 September, as well as Jeju-Narita, three flights a week; and Jeju-Osaka, 4 flights a week from 1 November.
Korean Air will also temporarily suspend some of its other routes. Incheon-Komatsu, which has three flights a week and Incheon-Kagoshima which has three flights a week) will be suspended from 29 September to 16 November. Also, the Incheon-Asahikawa route, with flights a week, will be suspended from 29 September to 26 October.
For Incheon-Osaka/Fukuoka routes, both routes currently have 28 flights a week, and the frequency will be decreased to 21 flights a week between 27 October and 16 November. The frequency of Incheon-Okinawa will be reduced from seven to four flights a week, and Busan-Narita/Fukuoka from fourteen to seven flights a week, between 29 September and 16 November.
At the same time, the airline will increase the frequency of routes in the Southeast Asia, Oceania, and Chinese markets.
To begin with, Korean Air will launch a new daily route to Clark, Philippines, starting from 27 October. The airline will also add four more operations a week for Incheon-Chiang Mai/Bali, increasing the number of flights per week to eleven. In Oceania, the frequency of the Incheon-Brisbane route will be increased from five to seven flights a week.
The airline plans to start direct flights from Incheon to Zhangjiajie and Hangzhou three times a week each, and Incheon-Nanjing four times a week. The service between Incheon and Beijing will be operated 17 times a week, up from the previous 14 a week.
The schedule updates are subject to government approval and will come into effect after government approval.