On the morning of the 29th, a passenger plane crashes on the runway of Muan International Airport in Jeollanam-do, and accident recovery is underway. /Courtesy of News1

The Jeju Air passenger plane that caught fire during landing is reported to have met with disaster just 21 days after its scheduled service to Muan International Airport in Jeollanam-do.

According to industry sources on the 29th, Jeju Air began regular flights to Nagasaki, Japan, Taipei, Taiwan, Bangkok, Thailand, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, and Jeju from the 8th. The ill-fated flight 7C2216 traveled between Bangkok and Muan four times a week.

Jeju Air made its first landing at Muan Airport in April 2018, but this was the first time for scheduled flights. Initially, services covered three routes: Osaka, Japan; Da Nang, Vietnam; and Bangkok, Thailand, but all operations were halted in 2020 due to the COVID-19 outbreak. In April, the airline resumed service for the first time in four years, starting with the domestic Jeju-Muan route.

Jeju Air began operating international routes from this month as Muan Airport, for the first time in its 17-year history, started daily international flights.

On its website, Jeju Air apologized, stating, "We will do everything we can for this accident" and "We apologize for causing concern."