Jin Air may become a long-haul low cost operator in 2014/15 and take the lead in Korea's LCC market

A new phase begins for Jin Air, the wholly owned low-cost subsidiary of Korean Air. Following steady growth that saw Jin Air grow to 11 aircraft after six years, the airline plans to double its fleet by the end of 2015 in a bid to become Korea's largest LCC, according to Jin Air SVP Marketing Emily Cho. The competition is both domestic and international. In Korea, independent Jeju Air expects to carry its 20th millionth passenger in 3Q2014 and have a fleet of 25 aircraft in 2016.

North Asian LCCs have been growing in Korea's international market, with 12% of seat capacity held by LCCs in 1H2014. And now more Southeast Asian long-haul LCCs, such as Thai AirAsia X and NokScoot, are poised to enter from Thailand, complementing AirAsia X and Scoot. Korea's LCCs are also finding themselves limited in destination choices; their all-narrowbody fleets extend their reach only so far in Southeast Asia - and cannot reach potential new markets like Hawaii or Australia.

Jin Air in late Jun-2014 expects to announce a widebody long-haul operation, becoming the first long-haul LCC in North Asia.