SEOUL, KOREA - Korea's low-cost airlines are increasing their non-regular flights to China rapidly. It is intended to take advantage of a rise in the number of Chinese tourists visiting Korea while preempting the potentially lucrative market. According to passenger airliner industry on June 11, the number of flights flown between Korea and China for the five-month period from January to May was 9,904, up 21.1 percent from the same period last year.

The number of flights by low-cost carriers, meanwhile, has more than tripled to 1,802 during the same period. Jeju Airlines, the No. 1 airliner among low-cost operators, has launched scheduled flights to China since this year. Previously the airliner had focused mostly on destinations in Japan and Thailand, but it has recorded 383 flights to ten Chinese cities since early this year.
This year, Eastar Jet has also increased non-regular flights to 17 Chinese cities from 11 last year. The number of flights has also risen to 860 from last year's 300. Jin Air has begun servicing four destinations in the Chinese northeastern provinces, with two more routes opening in June. Air Busan will add two more destinations in addition to one presently.
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