A Jeju Air passenger jet in flight / Courtesy of Jeju Air
Jeju Air is adding seats on China routes as a surge in passenger demand, led by younger travelers and independent tourists, pushes load factors higher across its network.
The airline said Monday that it provided about 494,300 seats on Korea-China routes from January through July, up 26.8 percent from about 389,900 seats during the same period last year.
Passenger numbers rose even faster, reaching about 427,300, a 37.4 percent increase from roughly 311,000 a year earlier, while the average load factor climbed to 86.4 percent from 79.8 percent.
The airline said the sharper rise in passengers than capacity reflected growing travel demand following visa-free policies between the two countries and an increasing preference for short-haul trips.
