Korean LCCs Air Busan and Jin Air succeed in different niches but must adapt to greater competition
South Korea was once the heartland - and limit - of LCCs in North Asia, but with the LCC movement gaining pace the country now risks stagnation. That is represented in Air Busan and Jin Air, the respective LCC subsidiaries of full-service carriers Asiana and Korean Air.
Air Busan is the larger of the two and advantaged with a base in its namesake city, a second-tier one that like elsewhere in the region often gets overlooked for service. But inefficiencies have creeped in with an Airbus A321 and Boeing 737 fleet and domestic services competing with high speed rail. Its profits are lower than Jin Air, which has the much larger Seoul and Incheon areas to call home but whose network still plays second fiddle to Korean Air, which will see foreign LCCs further erode its network.
Jin Air, like Air Busan, must be allowed a larger role. Jin Air's advantages will be narrowed as other LCCs make Seoul their first point of call of Korea. Air Busan and Jin Air can maintain the status quo in the short-term, but soon need the shackles taken off.
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