Battle of the Budget Airlines

There is a battle emerging between the budget airlines of South East Asia. The competition is hotting up amongst the Korean low-cost carriers as they increasingly find ways to generate new business with flights to countries such as Thailand and Malaysia.

Jin Air is one of Korea’s budget carrier’s and the nation’s leading airline that recently launched its first international flight to Bangkok, making it the second budget carrier to offer cross-border services after Jeju Air. On its maiden flight to the capital of Thailand, Jin Air filled 179 of the 180 seats on its Boeing 737-800 passenger aircraft.

Of Korea’s four budget carriers, which include Air Busan and Eastar Jet, two of them now offer regular flights to Southeast Asia, while Air Busan has plans to offer service there next year. “It is difficult for budget carriers to fly long-distance routes because the type of aircraft and engines they use differ from those of full-service carriers,” said Kim Jae-kun, president and chief executive of Jin Air. “Considering all the possibilities of destinations out there, flights to Southeast Asian nations are the best and most profitable international routes for budget carriers.”

The number of travelers flying from Southeast Asia to Korea and vice versa have also increased over the years, in part because Thais have been influenced by Hallyu, the Korean cultural wave, and because Koreans are looking for new leisure and honeymoon destinations.

“More than 800,000 Koreans visited Thailand last year,” said Jutaporn Reungronasa, deputy governor for marketing communications at the Tourism Authority of Thailand. However the number of Korean travelers to Thailand this year is expected to decrease by up to 30 percent due to various reasons such as the weak economy and political turmoil there.

Though plans are indefinite as of now, Jin Air is hoping to fly to more cities in Thailand including Phuket and Chiang Mai as well as other destinations like the Philippines, Malaysia and Macao.