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Korea’s Eastar Jet to operate 10 B737s by YE23 - CEO

Eastar Jet (ESR, Seoul Gimpo), which is set to resume operations on March 26 after a three-year break, plans to increase its fleet to ten aircraft by the end of this year, including three B737-8s, as it works towards relaunching international flights, CEO Cho Joong-seok revealed during a news conference.

Cho unveiled the restarting budget carrier’s new five-year business plan to reporters on March 14. Eastar already has three dry-leased B737-800s ready for operations and is in talks with lessors to add two more in the first half of 2023 and a further five Boeing aircraft - including the three MAX jets - in the second half.

The company reacquired its air operator’s certificate (AOC) last month and has begun ticket sales on its website for the domestic route Seoul Gimpo-Jeju, so far up to October. International routes will follow, likely to Taipei Sung Shan in Taiwan, to Tokyo Narita, Osaka Kansai, and Fukuoka in Japan, and to Viet Nam, Thailand, and China (Seoul...

Campaign to base merged S Korean LCC in Busan

A grassroots campaign is underway in Busan, South Korea, to lock in that city's airport as the headquarters of a new "integrated" low-cost subsidiary of Korean Air (KE, Seoul Incheon). Proposed in 2021 and still to be finalised, the move would see Air Busan, Air Seoul, and Jin Air merge to become one carrier.

That merger is a by-product of the proposed merger between Korean Air and Asiana Airlines (OZ, Seoul Incheon). Air Busan and Air Seoul are subsidiaries of Asiana while Jin Air is a Korean Air subsidiary. Once the proposed merger of the two parent airlines is complete, the three budget carriers would become Korean Air subsidiaries and that airline wants to fold them into a single operating brand.

As reported in Korean news outlets, the Gimhae Airport Hub Airport Citizen Promotion Team in Busan held a media conference on March 13 to publicise their efforts to secure the southern city as the headquarters. Air Busan is currently based in the city, Air Seoul in the capital, and Jin...