Air connections between Prague and Seoul ended the pandemic, the line will be restored in the spring
Boeing 777-300ER in the metropolis. Photo: Prague Airport
From March 27, Prague Airport will once again offer a connection with Asia, which will be provided by Korean Air as a direct carrier. The regular line between Prague and Korean Seoul was last in operation in March 2020 before the outbreak of the covid pandemic.
For the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Prague Airport, Jiří Pos, the restoration of the long-distance connection is one of the highest priorities. “This is an important milestone not only on the way to resuming operations and returning to the numbers from 2019, but also as part of building a network of direct routes to Asia. Korea ranks among the markets with the highest demand from the Asia region,” said Pos.
“Prague, which boasts a century of history and rich cultural heritage, is the flagship of Korean Air’s destinations in Central Europe. The renewal of this route gives us the opportunity to pick up where we left off and actively participate in the development of both countries in many different sectors,” said Jeong Soo Park, Korean Air Managing Vice President and Head of Passenger Network.
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Initially, the line will run three times a week, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, with the possibility of increasing the frequency to four times a week in the summer season, depending on the development of demand. Passengers will fly on a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, which offers 291 seats (64 Business, 227 Economy).
Thanks to the line, there will be significant currently missing capacity not only to Korea, but also thanks to connecting flights from Seoul to other destinations in Asia with traditionally strong demand, for example Thailand, Japan, Vietnam, but also Indonesia or Australia.
According to Czechtourism data, almost 400,000 Korean tourists visited the Czech Republic in 2019. “I strongly believe that thanks to the direct line and the gradually opening of Asian markets after the covid-19 pandemic, there will be a recovery of tourism between Korea and the Czech Republic and a gradual return of the numbers from 2019. While in 2019 we recorded 387 thousand guest arrivals from the Republic of Korea, a year later only 42 thousand Koreans arrived due to covid, and in 2021 even only eight thousand. Tourists from Asia are key for the Czech tourism industry due to their high creditworthiness. The average daily expenditure is around 4,000 crowns,” said the director of the agency, Jan Herget.
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The chairman of the board of Prague City Tourism František Cipro described that the connection between Prague and Seoul is the result of coordinated activities of all important actors. “We are very happy about the renewed connection, because thanks to it, travelers from Asia, who are currently missing from the metropolis, will return to Prague. In 2019, more than 270,000 tourists from South Korea visited the capital, compared to less than 40,000 last year,” he said.