Parata Airlines will launch a new route to Shenzhen, China, in Nov. It comes seven months after it secured traffic rights for the route in Apr. Parata Airlines plans to secure stable revenue by tapping strong business travel demand on the route and to actively target transfer demand linked to the planned U.S. Los Angeles route.
According to the aviation industry on the 26th, Parata Airlines will operate the Incheon–Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport route four times a week starting in Nov. An A330 with 18 business-class seats will be deployed on the route. The company has completed consultations with the relevant authorities on operating days and times and plans to begin ticket sales in early next month.
Shenzhen is where several Chinese technology corporations such as Tencent, Huawei, BYD, and DJI were born, and is called the "Chinese Silicon Valley." In Korea, financial companies including Woori Bank and Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK), as well as e-commerce and logistics firms, have entered the market. It is said that more than 500 companies established with Korean investment are operating there.
Currently, among Korean carriers, Korean Air Lines and Asiana Airlines operate the Incheon–Shenzhen route, and Parata Airlines plans to aggressively target business travel demand based on more competitive pricing than these carriers. As the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' meeting is scheduled to be held in Shenzhen, China, in Nov., the company also plans to focus on securing demand during that period.
The increase in passenger numbers on the Incheon–Shenzhen route is also one reason behind Parata Airlines' swift new launch. Last year, about 590,000 people used the Incheon–Shenzhen route, up 46.8% from a year earlier. Through July this year, about 380,000 people used the route, a 19% increase from a year earlier.
Parata Airlines also plans to attract transfer demand by linking the newly launched Shenzhen route with the U.S. Los Angeles route in Apr. next year. Currently, to travel from Shenzhen to Los Angeles, passengers must transfer in Incheon on Korean Air Lines or Asiana Airlines, or transfer in Beijing or Shanghai using a Chinese carrier. This travel pattern is similar in most other Chinese cities.
For this reason, Parata Airlines expects strong transfer demand at Incheon Airport and is expediting launches on the Chengdu and Chongqing routes in China, for which it has secured traffic rights. In fact, the number of transfer passengers at Incheon Airport is also on the rise. According to Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC), from January to July this year, the number of transfer passengers was about 5.06 million, up 19.6% from about 4.23 million in the same period last year.
Earlier, Parata Airlines CEO Yun Cheol-min said, "Shenzhen, Chengdu, and Chongqing are cities with strong transfer demand for travel to the United States," and added, "We will operate U.S. routes so that we can actively attract transfer demand generated on these routes."