South Korea, China agree first expansion in flight rights in seven years

South Korea and China have agreed to expand weekly flight rights between the countries for the first time in seven years, Seoul's transport ministry said on Thursday, in another sign of warming ties between the Asian neighbours.

The agreement, reached at bilateral aviation talks held in Seoul on May 27 to 28, will increase passenger flight rights by 56 weekly flights to 664 from 608, and cargo rights by 14 weekly flights to 68 from 54, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said.

The ministry said the deal would make it easier to add flights on high-demand routes such as Incheon to Shanghai and Incheon to Guangzhou, where existing rights had been fully used by both sides.

It will also expand routes from South Korea's regional airports, including Busan and Cheongju, to 10 Chinese cities such as Guangzhou, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Chongqing and Xian, the ministry said.

First-quarter passenger traffic between South Korea and China reached about 4.39 million, exceeding the pre-pandemic level of 4.14 million, according to the statement.

Lee So-young, the ministry's aviation policy chief, said it was encouraging that the two countries had achieved a timely expansion of flight rights through active aviation talks at a time when exchanges between them were increasing.

"We expect this agreement to help promote visits to South Korea by Chinese tourists, improve convenience for our citizens travelling to China and for import-export companies, and contribute to revitalising the economy by further boosting Korean airlines' entry into the Chinese market," Lee said.

The ministry said it plans to allocate the newly secured rights to South Korean airlines in the second half of the year.

-Joyce Lee/Reuters