Air Premia has a fleet of five Boeing 787-9 mid-sized jet
From June 11, Air Premia Inc. is slated to launch a route to Oslo, Norway, the longest-haul route for a South Korean low-cost carrier (LCC).
It is just a two-month flight service through August 15 during the white night period in the northernmost Scandinavian country, but suggests the lines between LCCs and full-service carriers are getting blurred.
Homegrown LCCs will likely gain new growth momentum from the forthcoming merger between the country’s two full-service carriers: Korean Air Lines Co. and Asiana Airlines Inc.
By taking over some golden international routes from Korean Air and Asiana’s lucrative cargo business, the LCCs are expected to spread their wings enough to take on the once-unbeatable rivals, said industry observers.
Riding the revived travel boom after the COVID-19 pandemic ended, LCCs are expanding their fleet of planes offering more spacious seats. They also introduced premium services like premium economy class.
AIR PREMIA
Air Premia, owned by two private equity firms, has focused on short-distance routes such as Japan and Thailand, while flying to Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Spain as well.
“We’re considering launching new long-distance flight routes after securing two new planes in the second half of this year,” said an Air Premia official.
The pitch in economy class for Air Premia’s mid-to-long-haul flights is 33-35 inches, wider than the average 28-31 inches for LCCs and similar to the 33-34 inches for full-service carriers.
The seat pitch in its premium economy is 42-43 inches.
“We don’t have to eat steak on the plane if we are offered spacious and comfortable seats,” said an office worker who prefers to travel on a budget airline.
Last month, another Korean LCC T’way Co. started flying to Zagreb, Croatia after becoming the first domestic LCC to launch a regular route to Australia in December 2022.
“From now one, we may need to compete with LCCs in securing routes and could no more be an only flag carrier in South Korea,” said a Korean Air official.
Jeju Air is South Korea’s No. 1 low-cost carrier
In the first four months of this year, LCC users for domestic routes reached 6.61 million, almost double that of full-service carriers during the same period.
Fierce competition among nine homegrown LCCs spurred their ascent in the aviation industry.
During the pandemic period, they performed better than full-service carriers because they focused on long-haul travelers. Last year, a number of domestic LCCs posted record-high profits.
Additionally, their smaller organizations help them make quick decisions to keep up with to changing travel trends.
Industry observers predict the domestc LCC industry could be consolidated and see the emergence of an LCC behemoth, if some of them are put on the market and find new owners.
By Jae-Fu Kim and Jung-Eun Shin
hu@hankyung.com
Yeonhee Kim edited this article
