Low-cost carrier (LCC) T'way Air has set up a new branch in Wuhan, Hubei province, China. This is the first time since May 2019, when T'way Air secured traffic rights for the Incheon–Wuhan route, that it has established a Wuhan branch.
The route had not been operating normally due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) situation and a drop in demand. With demand recently rising and China allowing visa-free entry, the move appears aimed at launching full-scale scheduled service.
According to the aviation industry on the 30th, T'way Air earlier this month closed its Wenzhou branch at Wenzhou Longwan International Airport and set up a new branch at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport. T'way Air operates a total of eight branches in China, including Beijing, Haikou, Qingdao, Hong Kong, Zhangjiajie, Yanji, and Shenyang.
Most of the regions with branches are where T'way Air operates scheduled passenger routes. Shenyang, Qingdao, and Hong Kong have Incheon departures seven days a week, while Haikou and Zhangjiajie each operate Incheon and Daegu departures twice a week.
The Wuhan area had previously been served by Korean Air four times a week. After securing traffic rights, T'way Air began operating once a week in Sept. 2020, but it was not able to operate normally due to the COVID-19 situation.
Korean Air suspended passenger operations on the Incheon–Wuhan route in 2021–2022, and T'way Air continued operating once a week through 2022, then ran only once a month in 2023 as a non-scheduled route.
Then, starting in the second half of 2023, Korean Air began operating three times a week, and as Chinese airlines also normalized their routes, passenger traffic on the Incheon–Wuhan route began to recover quickly.
When T'way Air first began operating the Incheon–Wuhan route in 2020, the route carried 13,961 passengers, but in 2023 it carried 20,254, up 45.1%. Last year's passenger total was 91,789, up 353% from the previous year.
Through Nov. this year, the Incheon–Wuhan route carried 107,012 passengers, up 24.1% from the same period last year. However, compared with the 165,894 passengers just before COVID-19, the figure is 35.5% lower.
Through the 23rd, T'way Air also operated 68 flights (one-way) on the Incheon–Wuhan route, carrying the most passengers since the launch (17,482). Considering that the aircraft deployed on this route was the B-737 (189 seats), the load factor is about 70%.
According to the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), production subsidiaries such as POSCO, LS Cable & System, SK Geocentric, and Hyosung Electric have entered Wuhan. The population reaches 13.77 million.