Korean Air opens Busan-Beijing route

Korean Air opens Busan-Beijing route

Korean Air, Korea's biggest airline, said Friday it launched a new service linking the southern port city of Busan and Beijing to meet growing demand for the route.

The carrier said five round-trip flights will be offered on the route on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Korean Air also decided to expand the number of weekly flights between Incheon and Beijing from the current 14 to 17 and those on the Incheon-Shanghai route from 10 to 21.

"The decision is aimed at meeting growing demand for air travel between the two countries," a company official said.

The opening of the new route and the flight expansion came after Korea and China signed an aviation agreement in June that doubled the number of Korean passenger flights to China to 401 flights on 43 routes a week from the current 204 flights on 33 routes.

Under the pact, Korea opened its skies fully to China, but Beijing only liberalized flights to cities in eastern Shandong Province.

The official said Korean Air will expand its flight services to China if the two countries strike a full open-skies accord.