Competition among South Korea's low-cost carriers, intensifying with the launch of a combined Jin Air (272450) following the Korean Air-Asiana Airlines merger, is spreading to China routes, where travel demand has grown markedly in recent months.
Parata Air will begin flying between Incheon and Shenzhen on Nov. 9, according to industry sources on the 5th. The carrier will operate four times a week — Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday — using a 260-seat A330-200. Shenzhen is a major city in southern China and home to global companies including Huawei, Tencent, BYD and DJI, generating heavy business travel.
With Chinese visitors to Korea surging and domestic demand also substantial, Parata Air plans to offer business class on the route. The carrier, which resumed operations last year, has been aggressively expanding new routes centered on China and is considering launching a Yangyang-Shanghai service as early as December.
Other budget carriers are also adding China routes in succession. Jeju Air (089590) launched a Busan-Guilin service four times a week last month. That gives the airline 12 China routes in total, including Incheon to Qingdao, Weihai, Yanji and Harbin; Busan to Shanghai Pudong, Shijiazhuang and Zhangjiajie; and Jeju to Beijing Capital. Jeju Air is also weighing new services from Daegu to Shanghai and from Jeju to Chengdu and Chongqing before the end of the year.
Eastar Jet will launch an Incheon-Xiamen route four times a week on the 28th of this month and add a Busan-Hangzhou service in December, bringing its new China routes to six. Jin Air began flying between Incheon and Yichang last month and will increase the service to four times a week starting on the 12th.
The carriers are rushing to expand in China because demand for travel to Korea from the country is enormous. Chinese visitors to Korea numbered 827,704 in August, up 36.9% from a year earlier, according to the Korea Tourism Organization. With China's National Day holiday, the country's longest, running from Oct. 1 to 7, visits by Chinese tourists are expected to gain further momentum.
