Travellers to South Korea now have more ways to fly, with five airlines set to offer direct flights between Sydney and Incheon (South Korea’s primary international airport and gateway to Seoul) by the end of 2022 – Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, Qantas, Jetstar and T’way Air.
South Korea’s national carriers, Korean Air and Asiana Airlines are now operating the Sydney to Incheon route daily. Korean Air will resume the Brisbane to Incheon route in January 2023, three times a week (Mon, Thu, Sat).
Qantas’ inaugural flight to Incheon departs Sydney on 10 December 2022 with five flights per week (Tue, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun) and daily flights commencing from 8 January 2023. Jetstar, which launched the Sydney to Incheon route earlier in November, is operating three flights per week (Wed, Fri, Sat) to the destination.
Lastly, T’way Air, one of South Korea’s low cost carriers, will launch the Sydney to Incheon route just before the year closes out. T’way flies from 24 December four times per week (Tue, Thu, Sat, Sun), aiming to offer more premium features such as upgraded and more spacious economy class seats, and fully reclining business class seats at a lower price point.
The introduction of the new route for the airlines has been spurred on by the rising interest in South Korea for outbound Australian travellers, as well as Australia becoming a top travel destination for South Koreans.
In 2019, South Korea welcomed 173,218 Australian travellers, a 13% increase from 2018. Throughout the three years since the COVID19 outbreak, KTO Sydney ran various promotional campaigns and consumer and travel trade events to position South Korea as a new emerging Asian travel destination and keep the country top of mind in preparation for the resumption of travel. As a result, since April 2022 when South Korea reopened its border, there has been positive feedback from consumers and travel trade in terms of booking numbers and expanded partnerships. Now, thanks to the increased direct routes from Australia to South Korea, the Australian travel market to South Korea is likely to grow even stronger in 2023.
