As early as next summer, flights between Korea and the Czech Republic will increase from the current seven to 10 per week, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said on the 6th. After boosting the frequency from four to seven per week in 2024, demand persisted, leading to another expansion of traffic rights after two years.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport agreed at a Korea-Czech aviation meeting held in Prague on the 28th–29th to increase passenger traffic rights between the two countries by three on top of the current seven per week. The move follows continued demand for additional flights centered on the travel and tourism industries. Once the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) allocates the newly secured traffic rights to airlines, the carriers will obtain slots and approvals and proceed to launch new routes.
On the Czech route, supply is failing to keep up with demand. On the Incheon–Prague route, Korean Air Lines currently operates four times a week and Asiana Airlines three times a week, and, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT), the average load factor on Czech routes this year reaches about 90%. In the airline industry, a load factor above 85% is generally considered virtually full. With this expansion of traffic rights, if other airlines add services, consumers are expected to have more choices.
With this agreement, airlines will be able to operate Eastern Europe routes more flexibly, not only to the Czech Republic but also including Austria and Hungary. Route operations and travel products—such as entering via the Czech Republic and departing via Hungary, or entering via Hungary and returning from the Czech Republic—are expected to diversify further. In March, the government expanded traffic rights with Austria and Hungary for the first time in about a decade, respectively.
Lee So-young, aviation policy director at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "The recent consecutive increases in traffic rights with Eastern European countries are based on voices from the industry, and they are highly likely to lead to actual route launches by airlines, which we expect will significantly increase our people's travel convenience and choices."