South Korea’s budget carrier Jeju Air Co. announced on Tuesday that it signed a codeshare agreement with Indonesia’s largest low-cost airline, Lion Air Group, and will begin operating the Incheon-Bali and Incheon-Batam routes.
At the agreement signing ceremony held in Jakarta, Indonesia, Kim E-Bae, CEO of Jeju Air, and Daniel Putut Kuncoro Adi, Chairman of Lion Air Group, were in attendance.
Earlier in Febuary, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of South Korea increased the number of international flights between the two countries by liberalizing operations between six regional airports through an aviation agreement with the Indonesian government.
In particular, for the Bali route, which has high demand during peak seasons, airlines from both countries can operate unlimited flights through a codeshare agreement regardless of whether they hold traffic rights.
Jeju Air plans to operate the Incheon-Bali route seven times a week starting from Oct. 27, in line with the winter flight schedule, once it receives flight approval from both governments. This route will utilize Jeju Air’s next-generation aircraft, the B737-8.
Jeju Air will also launch the Incheon-Batam route in this year. Through the regular allocation of traffic rights by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on May 26, Jeju Air secured the right to operate this route three times a week.
Jeju Air explained that Batam has high growth potential due to its ability to attract not only domestic tourists but also inbound passengers and transit demand from neighboring countries such as Singapore and Malaysia.
By Jin-Won Kim
jin1@hankyung.com
