Jin Air Launches Flight to Jeju

Gate 9 at the domestic line terminal of the Gimpo International Airport in western Seoul yesterday.

Ten minutes before the boarding time, around 10 passengers stood in a queue in front of the gate. With the boarding time coming closer, a flight attendant walked around the gate with a picket saying "First come, first board" in his hand. All the flight attendants were working in yellowish green caps, blue jeans, short-sleeved shirts and sneakers.

First passengers of Jin Air, a low-cost domestic carrier under Korean Air, boarded the airplane. On board, flight attendants in the same outfit welcomed the passengers.

"Blue seats belong to Sections A and C and red seats to Section B."

Passengers boarding the B737-800 airplane bound for Jeju were informed of the sections by Jinis, nicknames for flight attendants of Jin Air. Passengers chose seats in the section written on the ticket, on a first-come-first-served basis.

Lee Jin-wu, head of the sales support team at Jin Air, said, “For passengers’ safety, we divided the plane into three sections of A, B and C. Passengers belonging to each section can choose their own seats in the given section on a first-come-first-served basis. Thanks to the new service, the workload of ticketing has decreased. Also, as passengers hurry to take good seats, planes are more likely to take off on time.” Jin Air makes four round trips per day between Seoul and Jeju with the airplane, which first appeared yesterday.

As the nation’s largest airline made an inroad into the no-frills airline service, low-cost carriers are likely to face much fiercer competition. Sources of the aviation industry predict low-cost carriers will face ever-intensifying competition to catch the demand for low-cost international flights. Certainly, the demand for inexpensive flight services linking Seoul and other Asian cities is high, and low-cost carriers have larger price competitiveness than the established airlines.

Jin Air plans to provide services in Southeast Asia, China and Japan starting September 2009. Among local low-cost carriers, Jeju Air became the first international flight service provider as it launched a flight service linking Jeju and Hiroshima of Japan in July. Hansung Airlines will launch international services at the end of this year.

However, some express worries over low-cost carriers. Jin Air’s CEO Kim Jae-geon said, “We may introduce oil surcharges in September since low-cost carriers are also burdened by surging international oil prices.”

Hong Seok-jin, a professor of Graduate School of Logistics at Incheon University, said, “The growth of low-cost carriers will help the nation’s air transport business to evolve further. However, it is significant to realize the economy of scale with financial resources and managerial capacity.”

achim@donga.com