Korea, Japan expand sky routes as relations improve

South Korea and Japan are adding new sky routes that fly to and from small cities in addition to major destinations in Seoul and Tokyo as bilateral relations improve.

According to the Korea Civil Aviation Association on Sunday, the number of flights between Korea and Japan reached 8,629 in June, with 1.52 million passengers, the largest since this year. The number of passengers stood at 1.33 million in April and 1.48 million in May.

The increase is attributed to the growing demand for travel to Japan amid the weak yen. The airline industry is also offering new routes to Japan.

Jeju Air Co., for example, launched an exclusive route last week that flies from Incheon to Hiroshima three times a week. The airline also started flying between Incheon and Oita.

Jeju Air operates 14 other routes to Japan from Incheon and Busan in Korea.

T‘way Air Co. plans to resume its exclusive route from Incheon to Saga in September, which was suspended during the pandemic.

Air Seoul Inc. will also resume the Incheon-Dotonbori route, after a four-year hiatus, from October 25.

Flights from Korea currently head to 14 destinations in Japan, including Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, and Fukuoka. Flights to Saga, Yonago, and Okayama will be added in the second half of this year.

The diversification in the routes comes as Korea and Japan improve relations.

Last month, Japan reinstated Korea to its whitelist of preferential trading partners after more than four years and eased export restrictions on key materials, parts and equipment including core semiconductor materials, enabling bilateral relations to become closely intertwined again in all aspects.

Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. is known to be considering investing 30 billion yen ($216.2 million) to establish a semiconductor research and development (R&D) center, including a pilot production line, in Yokohama, Japan. Major Japanese semiconductor companies are also reportedly discussing the establishment of R&D centers in Korea.