Swarm of New Planes
According to aviation industry sources on Oct. 5, domestic low-cost carriers (LCC) have already bought or plan to buy a total of 20 new airplanes this year. Last year, they bought 16 new planes.
Jeju Air, the leading airline in the domestic LCC industry, will introduce six new airplanes this year, while Jin Air, which will launch a long-distance flight service from Incheon to Hawaii at the end of this year for the first time in the domestic LCC industry, will buy another six. Last year, Jeju Air bought four planes and Jin Air bought two. Counting down to go public this year, Jeju Air plans to operate 40 airplanes by 2020.
Eastar Jet and T'way Air are planning to introduce three new airplanes each this year, and Air Busan, a regional LCC based in Busan, will buy two new planes.
The nation’s two major airlines – Korean Air and Asiana Airlines – are also planning to introduce new airplanes.
Korean Air has bought or plans to buy a total of 15 new planes this year. In the first nine months of this year, the company took over a total of 12 airplanes – 10 passenger planes and two cargo planes. Also, it will buy three more planes by the end of this year. Once the 15 new airplanes are introduced, Korean Air will have 160 aircraft. In particular, the company announced in April that it would bring in a total of 100 next-gen planes - Boeing B737 MAX-8s and Airbus A321NEOs – from 2019 to 2025.
Asiana Airlines is planning to buy four new planes this year. The company recently bought one A321-200 and two A380s, and will additionally introduce one A321 this week. Once the company completes the introduction of four aircraft, it will have a total of 86 planes – 75 passenger planes and 11 cargo planes – by the end of this year.