대한항공 9월부터 부산∼삿포로 운행 중단
The trade spat between Seoul and Tokyo is now affecting the aviation industry.
That's largely because of the South Koreans boycotting travel to Japan, and so Korea's biggest air carrier has joined others in suspending at least one Japan flight and possibly scaling some down.
Choi Si-young has more.
Korean Air will suspend flights between the southeastern city of Busan and Sapporo from early September.
A company spokesperson said Monday that the suspension will take effect on September 3rd.
There's no set date for when or whether the route will be restarted.
Korean Air is also considering slashing its number of flight routes to Japan or switching to smaller aircraft from mid-August.
South Korea's low-cost carriers have already suspended or reduced the number of their flights between South Korean cities and less popular destinations in Japan, such as Narita,... but this is the first time the country's flagship carrier has suspended flights to Japan.
Last week, local low-cost carrier T'way Air stopped its flight service between Muan and Oita.
Other local budget carrier, Air Busan, will stop flights between Daegu and Osaka from September, while Eastar Jet is suspending flights between Busan and Osaka around the same time.
Industry insiders say that, while the carriers were planning to cut down on some flights to Japan anyway because they were not proving profitable, the airlines are also actively taking into account the boycott of Japanese products by South Koreans.
Choi Si-young, Arirang News.
