This week, Korean Air announced to resume of flights to a few destinations that were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But as the world recovers gradually, the airline decided to add or resume flights to those routes.
Korean Air Resuming Flights To Japan
After a long COIVD hiatus, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. With Japan recently scrapping strict measures, the travel demand to Japan grew explosively. And in line with the travel demand recovery following the resumption of the country’s visa waiver program, Korean Air decided to expand its service to some of its major Japanese routes: Okinawa (OKA) and Sapporo (CTS).
Korean Air is currently operating in four Japanese cities on a daily basis:
- Nagoya
- Tokyo (Narita)
- Osaka
- Fukuoka
With the resumption of two more tourist destinations, the airline will be restoring its pre-pandemic schedules.
Starting December 1, 2022, Korean Air will fly daily to Sapporo Chitose with the following schedule:
- KE765 – Seoul to Sapporo departing at 10:05 and arriving at 12:45
- KE766 – Sapporo to Seoul departing at 14:00 and arriving at 17:15
Korean Air’s sister airline Jin Air will also be flying 1.5 hours earlier than Korean Air.
For flights to Okinawa, Korean Air will fly four times a week on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays. Similar to Sapporo, it will commence operation on December 1, 2022, with the following schedule:
- KE755 – Seoul to Okinawa departing at 08:05 and arriving at 10:25
- KE756 – Okinawa to Seoul departing at 11:35 and arriving at 13:55
Again, Jin Air will also be flying this route with the flight departing 2 hours after Korean Air’s departure.
Korean Air Resuming Flights To China
China is still one of the only remaining countries with a zero-tolerance policy aboutCOVID-19 and the country still on heavy lockdown. But last week, the country sort of eased the rules for international travel so Korean Air is starting to slowly resume its flights to China.
Currently, Korean Air flies to seven cities in mainland China and three more flights will be resumed to Shanghai Pudong (PVG), Nanjing (NKG) and Qingdao (TAO).
Starting November 20, 2022, Korean Air will fly once a week to Shanghai Pudong with the following schedule:
- KE897 – Seoul to Shanghai Pudong departing at 08:30 and arriving at 09:55
- KE898 – Shanghai Pudong to Seoul departing at 13:05 and arriving at 16:10
From December 7, 2022, Korean Air will fly once a week to Nanjing with the following schedule:
- KE101 – Seoul to Nanjing departing at 09:00 and arriving at 10:30
- KE102 – Nanjing to Seoul departing at 13:15 and arriving at 16:55
And lastly, from December 11, 2022, Korean Air will fly once a week to Qingdao with the following schedule:
- KE845 – Seoul to Qingdao departing at 09:05 and arriving at 09:45
- KE846 – Qingdao to Seoul departing at 10:55 and arriving at 13:25
Given that the demand is still low for flights to China, Korean Air will be operating narrowbody Boeing B737s to these routes for now.
Korean Air Is Back Again In Tel Aviv, Isreal
After a couple of years of absence, Korean Air is once again flying to Tel Aviv, Isreal. With the recent resumption of flights to Dubai, Tel Aviv will be its second Middle East route to reopen. The flight to Tel Aviv will operate 3 times weekly and under the following schedule:
- KE957 – Seoul to Tel Aviv departing at 14:35 and arriving at 20:00
- KE958 – Tel Aviv to Seoul departing at 21:55 and arriving at 15:10(+1)
Flights to Tel Aviv will be operated with Airbus A330-200 which features gorgeous APEX Suites.
Korean will be the second airline in East Asia to offer direct flights to Israel. Prior to the Israel route launch, South Koreans had to either fly to Toyko, Hong Kong, or Bangkok and fly El Al to Tel Aviv or with Turkish Airlines and Emirates at a stop.
But now this resumption will make it easier for locals to travel and also save time on the trip.
Here is a summary of the schedules for the flight resumption.
Summary
Korean Air will be resuming flights to more and more destinations as the pandemic is coming to an end. Starting late this month and in December, the airline will resume flying to China, Japan, and Israel.
I am glad to see more direct flights are offered to these routes which will save us a long time flying around.
