South Korean Low-Cost Carriers to Combine as Jin Air

The much-publicised takeover of Asiana Airlines by Korean Air, both of South Korea, has led to much discussions over what would happen to the subsidiary low-cost carriers run by each airline following the merger.

Asiana operates Air Busan and Air Seoul, whilst Korean Air operates Jin Air.

The South Korean domestic and regional airline market is one of the busiest in the world, and passengers enjoy plenty of choice through these airlines and the mainline carriers.

lasta29, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Jin Air Supreme

It has been announced that, following the merger, the three low-cost airlines will also merge under the Jin Air name, brand and livery.

The combined carrier will maintain Seoul Incheon as its main operating base, with a secondary base at Busan.

Aircraft Fleet

Gabriella918, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

At present, the carriers operate the following fleets:

Air Busan: 8x Airbus A320-200, 13x Airbus A321-200, 3x Airbus A321neo, 2x Airbus A321neoLR

Air Seoul: 5x Airbus A321-200

Jin Air: 20x Boeing 737-800, 2x Boeing 737-900, 1x Boeing 737 MAX 8, 4x Boeing 777-200ER

This will leave a varied and complexe combined fleet, and is likely to result in streamlining and potentially a new aircraft order from either the Airbus or Boeing current offering to better suit Jin Air’s future needs.