Jin Air to Start International Operation in October

By Kim Rahn

Staff Reporter

The carrier also announced its new management paradigm for environmental friendliness, commemorating its first anniversary which falls on Friday.

The airline will operate daily flights to Bangkok and four planes per week to Macau, starting Oct. 29. It currently operates only domestic flights between Seoul and Jeju, and Busan and Jeju.

The flight to Bangkok will depart Korea in the morning and arrive in Bangkok around noon, enabling travelers to have half a day longer, while other Korean carriers depart here in the evening.

"Bangkok is one of the most popular overseas travel destinations for Koreans and we see enough demand despite competition. For Macau, no Korean carrier is operating there currently, so we'll open the route to the city that is emerging as a family resort destination," Kim Jae-kun, president and CEO of Jin Air, said in a press briefing in Seoul, Thursday.

Daily operations to Osaka and Weihai will also be launched on Dec. 17 and 23, respectively. Four weekly flights will depart for Guam from January.

The airfares of the international flights will be about 70 to 80 percent of those offered by full service carriers, Kim said.

Jin Air also proclaimed that it would adopt environmentally friendly management, a commitment to social responsibility as a member of an airline industry that emits carbon dioxide.

With the slogan "Save the Air," the carrier will launch a campaign in September to reduce aircraft weight to use less fuel - passengers with no baggage will get a 1,000-won discount for the fare when taking a Jin Air flight the next time.

It will also sell T-shirts on which the slogan is printed, and the proceeds will be donated to United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

rahnita@koreatimes.co.kr