Daily flights between Jeju and Thailand are now available, as a budget airline launched the new route October 1st. Travel experts say they expect to see a change in tourism industry dynamics here with the increase of tourists from Southeast Asia. Mike Laidman has more.
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Eastar Jet launches regular Jeju-Bangkok route

The low-cost carrier Eastar Jet has launched a new daily route between Jeju and Bangkok, Thailand.

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Departs 7 days a week

The direct flight will depart once a day, seven days a week. Annually, that means over 66,000 seats available between Jeju and Bangkok.

The budget airline has launched this new route based on its experience with the non-scheduled flights it ran between the two cities back in 2013.

This is the first time a daily route has been launched between Jeju and a Southeast Asian country.

[INTERVIEW]
Kim Jung-shik / CEO, Eastar Jet
Travel to Southeast Asia from Jeju has become much more convenient with this direct flight. We’re expecting more Thai tourists here, too, which will diversify the Jeju tourism market.
<인터뷰 : 김정식/이스타항공 대표>
"직항노선이 생기면 제주도민의 해외여행이 편해질 것이라고 생각합니다.
태국 관광객들도 앞으로 제주에 쉽게 올 수 있게 돼
제주 관광시장도 다변화될 것으로..."

Currently, there are 27 international flights serving four countries that depart from Jeju. Along with flights to China and Japan, Hong Kong Express runs some direct routes between Hong Kong and Jeju three times a week, as does Dragonair, four times a week.

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Moon Ho-seong

Jeju-Taiwan flights are also up and running again after they were temporarily suspended due to MERS earlier this year.

Now, with this increase in flights between Jeju and destinations in Southeast Asia, Jeju is working to promote more travel by tourists from the region.

[INTERVIEW]
Moon Gyeong-ho / Jeju Tourism Organization marketing division
This has made travel easy between Southeast Asia and Jeju. Hopefully it will lead to more carriers offering similar flights to other destinations in Asia.
<인터뷰 : 문경호/제주관광공사 마케팅사업처장>
"(이번 취항은) 시장 다변화의 가장 큰 걸림돌인 항공 접근성이 개선됐다는데 큰 의미가 있고 이 모델이 안착되면 타 항공사들이 다른 아세아 국가로//
**수퍼체인지**
취항하는데 이점이 있을 것 같습니다."

[Reporter]
Mike Laidman

With the rise in direct flights between Jeju and Southeast Asian countries, the foreign tourist market here is expected to see a shift from its current Chinese-centered state to something more diverse in the future.

Mike Laidman, KCTV