SEOUL, KOREA - Eastar Air, one of Korea's leading low-cost carriers, announced on June 17 that it passed the 8-million mark in cumulative passenger numbers in about four years and six months after being launched.
Eastar Air, inaugurated in January 2009, broke the 1-million-passenger mark in one year after inauguration and the 5-million mark in three years. The number of its service flights also more than doubled to 16,626 flights last year from 8,263 in 2009.
An Eastar Air official said, "The number of passengers marked a steep growth from last year when we expanded our service coverage to and from China."
Eastar Air is not alone. Jin Air and Air Busan also passed the 8-million and the 10-million milestones last month in cumulative number of passengers, respectively.
Jeju Air, the No. 1 low-cost airliner in Korea, is also growing at a rapid pace, with its cumulative passenger number estimated at 14.6 million as of today.
