KITA-Asiana Airlines to operate chartered flights to China

Asiana Airlines will operate chartered flights to Chongqing, China, starting Friday in cooperation with the Korea International Trade Association to support small and medium-sized enterprises’ export activities, KITA said Thursday.

KITA and Asiana Airlines signed an agreement on the day to operate chartered flights once a week through October. The plane will head to Chongqing, a megacity in southwest China.

The first charter flight will depart for Chongqing on Friday with 120 Korean businesspeople on board. They will be able to go to local factories and business sites after 14 days of quarantine.

Asiana Airlines will also allocate some of its seats on its regular flight routes for SMEs, including KITA member companies.

KITA said the partnership is expected to address demand for overseas business trips by SMEs amid soaring ticket prices and reduced regular flights to China due to the pandemic. The number of regular flights between Korea and China -- which marked 1,260 flights a week last year -- had dropped to 46 flights per week as of this month.

KITA Vice Chairman Han Jin-hyun said, “We will continue to do our best to support safe business trips for small and medium-sized enterprises.” 

By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)