Report, Image by : Gan Yung Chyan, KUCINTA SETIA
Image : Researcher's Picture
According to Yonhap News Agency, South Korea's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said on the 6th that it held a meeting to assess the import situation of the covid pandemic on 31 March 2022, and reached an agreement with the epidemic prevention department on the plan to promote the phased resumption of international passenger routes. Accordingly, the government strives to restore the frequency of international routes to 50% of 2019 by the end of the year.
The Ministry of Land and Resources plans to resume international routes in three phases. First, the first phase is planned to be implemented from May to June. From May onwards, 100 international scheduled flights will be added per week. The number of international flights will increase from 420 flights per week in this month to 520 flights per week in May, and then increase to 620 flights per week in June 2022.
At Incheon International Airport, the hourly limit for arriving aircraft will be relaxed from 10 to 20. Regional airports that have suspended international flights since April 2020 will restart international flights for domestically vaccinated people. In May 2022, Muan, Cheongju, and Jeju airports will resume international flights while Seoul-Gimpo and Yangyang airports in will restart international flights in June 2022 respectively.
The second phase is planned to be implemented from July 2022 until the epidemic turns into an endemic. The Ministry of Land and Resources and other relevant departments have set a goal of restoring international routes to 50% of the pre-epidemic level by the end of the year, taking into account the international organization's outlook for passenger demand recovery and the results of this year's survey on passenger demand at Incheon Airport and airline demand.
Specifically, the Ministry of Land and Resources will open 300 more scheduled international flights per week from July 2022, and will expand the hourly limit of aircraft arriving at Incheon Airport to 30.
If the pandemic is downgraded to an endemic, the government will implement the third phase of the plan to restore all aviation policies to pre-pandemic levels.
International routes are expected to recover to 40% of 2019 levels in October, rising to 51% of 2019 levels in November. At present, the Ministry of Land and Resources negotiates with the epidemic prevention department every month and approves the operation of international scheduled flights. After entering the endemic stage, it will be approved twice a year in summer and winter. At that time, the number of aircraft arriving at Incheon International Airport per hour will be restored to 40 before the epidemic.
In order to implement the above-mentioned plan, from May, the Ministry of Land and Resources will decide whether to increase the regular flights of airlines. At present, the Ministry of Land and Resources negotiates with the epidemic prevention department every month and decides the route and frequency of international flights.
It is reported that the South Korea government is also studying the exemption of nucleic acid testing (PCR) for those entering the country.
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