South Korea and China have agreed to expand on a mutual basis weekly air-traffic rights between the two places – the first such easing since 2019, according to South Korean media. The deal followed bilateral aviation-related talks held in Seoul, the South Korean capital, in late May.
Weekly passenger-flight rights between the two countries will be increased by circa 9pct, to 664 in aggregate from 608. Cargo-flight rights will be boosted by nearly 26 percent, to 68 a week in total, from 54, Reuters reported, citing South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
The ministry plans to allocate that nation’s share of the newly-secured flights to South Korean airlines in the second half of this year, reported respectively Reuters and Yonhap News Agency.
The ministry was cited saying the fresh allocation would benefit the busiest routes such as Incheon-Shanghai and Incheon-Guangzhou, where existing flight rights had already been fully utilised by both sides.
Incheon International Airport (pictured in a file photo), South Korea’s main air hub, would also see increased flight frequency to other Chinese-mainland cities: the capital Beijing; Dalian; Chengdu; and Harbin.
South Korean regional airports including Busan and Cheongju, would see increased flights to the Chinese cities of Guangzhou, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Chongqing, Kunming, Xi’an, Urumqi, Harbin, Shenyang and Yanji, the media outlet Chosun Biz additionally reported.
First-quarter passenger traffic between South Korea and China reached 4.39 million, which already surpassed the pre-Covid 19 level of 4.14 million, South Korea’s transport ministry stated.
South Korea is a casino jurisdiction with 17 foreigner-only venues, and has historically been a popular destination for Chinese as well as Japanese gamblers. China maintains a legal ban on ‘overseas gambling’ or on anyone seeking to organise Chinese citizens for such activity.
