Korean airlines expand China routes as travel rebound spreads beyond major cities

A Korean Air passenger jet takes off from Incheon International Airport, Sept. 10, 2025. Yonhap

By Yulu Ao

• Published Aug 6, 2026 7:00 AM KST

Korean airlines are expanding services beyond China’s main business hubs, expecting a rebound in travel between the two countries to create sustainable demand for routes linking smaller cities and regional tourism destinations.

Jin Air, an affiliate of Korean Air, will launch flights between Incheon and China’s Yichang on Sept. 17 and resume services to China’s Qingdao and Yantai this month. Eastar Jet will open a Daegu-Zhangjiajie route on Sept. 1, while adding charter flights to China’s Datong, Nantong and Ningbo after securing rights for 11 Korea-China routes in April.

The additions come as passenger traffic on routes between Korea and China reached 9.54 million in the first half of 2026, up 22 percent from a year earlier, according to Korea’s Aviation Information Portal System.

Chinese visitor arrivals in Korea grew even faster, rising 27.1 percent to 3.21 million during the period, according to data compiled by the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO). The recovery has given airlines greater confidence to restore routes suspended during the pandemic and explore markets beyond Beijing and Shanghai.

It has also been supported by the first expansion of bilateral aviation rights since 2019. Under an agreement reached in May, weekly passenger flight rights between Korea and China will increase from 608 to 664. The additional capacity includes 14 weekly services reserved for routes connecting Korean regional airports with 10 Chinese cities.

Demand for routes through regional airports is already growing faster than flight capacity. The number of flights from Chinese cities to five Korean regional airports increased 17.3 percent to 12,375 in the first half, while passenger traffic jumped 28.6 percent to about 665,000, KTO data showed.

The trend accelerated in June, when arrivals through regional airports including Gimhae, Daegu and Cheongju surged 42.5 percent from a year earlier, according to KTO, compared with an 18.2 percent increase through airports in the Seoul metropolitan area.

KTO has partnered with Eastar Jet to develop additional China routes and tourism products through regional airports, part of an effort to direct more international visitors and tourism spending beyond Seoul.

Easier visa access has provided another boost. Since March 30, Chinese travellers who have previously visited Korea have been eligible for five-year multiple-entry visas, while residents of 14 major Chinese cities can obtain visas valid for up to 10 years.

A KTO representative said tourist visa issuance had increased since the rules were relaxed, although more time was needed to determine whether the change would produce a sustained rise in repeat visits.

Changing travel habits are also reshaping demand. Lee Hong-keun, director of KTO’s China team, said Chinese visitors were moving away from large tour groups centred on duty-free shopping toward independent, short-duration trips focused on food, K-pop concerts and local experiences.

Busan, for example, has emerged as the most attractive destination outside Seoul, helped by its coastal environment, relatively affordable prices and convenient public transportation, Lee said.

Strained China-Japan relations may have prompted some Chinese travelers to choose Korea instead, but industry observers cautioned against treating diverted demand as the main driver of the recovery.

Liu Ziyang, director of the Korea-China Economic Development Institute at Kyonggi University, described the shift from Japan as a “marginal rather than decisive factor.”

“The recovery in the Korea-China aviation market is no longer being driven by tourism alone, but increasingly reflects a broader revival in business travel, educational cooperation and people-to-people exchanges,” Liu said.

He characterised the upturn as a structural recovery rather than a short-term substitution effect, saying a more diverse passenger base could make the market less dependent on peak travel seasons and package tours.

Korean Air said its passenger growth had been led by high-density routes to Beijing and Shanghai, along with leisure services to Zhangjiajie, Xiamen and Zhengzhou. It has also secured traffic rights for an Incheon-Wuxi route and is evaluating its launch.

Still, the rush to add flights could intensify fare competition on mature routes.

“The influx of capacity could intensify fare competition in the short term, particularly on mature routes between Seoul and major Chinese cities,” Liu said.

“Over the longer term, however, direct links between Korea’s regional airports and smaller Chinese cities could become a new source of tourism growth for both countries.”

The market’s durability will depend on visa arrangements, bilateral trade and investment, fuel prices and exchange rates, Korean Air said.

Yulu Ao is a reporter with the South China Morning Post. She is currently based in Seoul, writing for both The Korea Times and the South China Morning Post under an exchange program.