Korea’s T’way Air extends services to North America

Korea’s longest established low-cost carrier (LCC) T’way Air has been granted a Foreign Air Carrier Permit (FACP) by the US Department of Transportation. This will allow the carrier to extend its current regional passenger services to North American destinations, as well as provide cargo capacity on the same routes.

With LCC carriers now taking some 50% of all passenger traffic in Korea, regional LCC operators are looking overseas for continued growth.

Initially, T'way will run a daily Boeing 737-800 schedule from Incheon, Seoul to US Protectorate Guam’s Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport, starting late September. In October, it will introduce a 3X-week service from Daegu International to Guam, via Osaka Kansia International.

The move to North America for T’way comes on the heels of the imminent arrival of Asiana Airlines’ new LCC subsidiary Seoul Air, which will compete directly with T’way on its established Korea-Japan regional routes.

More importantly, the carrier will now be able to fly charter services to other mainland US territories and cities, opening up the possibility of direct competition with Asiana on routes to its mainland destinations such as San Francisco, New York, Seattle and Chicago.

Three other Korean LCCs currently offer Korea to Guam services—Jin Air, Jeju Air and Air Busan—even before Seoul Air takes to the skies. This reinforces T’way Air’s recent commitment to change strategy outside its regional niches to continue expanding.

(Jeremy Torr - ATWOnline News)