After a two-year hiatus Korean Air, the largest airline and flag carrier of South Korea, will resume direct scheduled passenger flights to Tel Aviv in Israel.
The decision was confirmed by the Israeli Ministry of Tourism on August 11, 2022, with the air carrier set to restart flights between the carrier’s main base at Seoul’s Incheon International Airport (ICN) and Israel in January 2021. The airline will offer three flights per week.
The move should help Israel and South Korea boost passenger flow between both countries and is considered highly profitable. In 2019, more than 60,000 travelers from South Korea visited Israel, according to the Korea Economic Daily. Korean Air temporarily ended operations to and from Israel in 2020 due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The South Korean carrier recently announced its latest financial performance during Q2 2022, where it recorded an increase in its operating results, reaching KRW 735.9 billion ($569 million) profit. The airline attributed this to the gradual rebound in passenger traffic, the growth of the air cargo demand, decreasing COVID-19 cases and borders reopening across the region.
Korean Air recorded a cargo revenue of KRW 2.1712 trillion ($ 1.7 billion) during the quarter, a 44% increase year-on-year.