Korea’s leading budget carrier Jeju Air Co. has increased flights to Taiwan as it seeks alternatives to Japan after Koreans refrained from traveling to the neighboring country on soured relationship.

The airline on Monday introduced three new routes between Korea and Taiwan serviceable from next month - Jeju-Taipei, Jeju-Kaohsiung, and Busan- Kaohsiung. The Jeju-Taipei will run twice a week and Busan- Kaohsiung five times a week, starting Oct. 2. On the following day, the airline will commence the Jeju- Kaohsiung route, servicing twice a week.

Jeju Air has been raising its strength in Taiwan, one of Korean’s favorite overseas travel destinations, to differentiate itself in the mushrooming low-cost carrier market. The airline industry also has been forced to look for non-Japanese options after Koreans stayed away from the country amid rows over past and trade issues.

Taipei and Kaohsiung would be fourth and fifth international destination from Jeju, the southern resort island of Korea. Other international routes from Jeju are Hong Kong, Fukuoka in Japan, and Bangkok in Thailand.

The Busan- Kaohsiung route will be an addition to the Busan-Taipei flight service, which runs every day.

According to the Korea Tourism Organization’s travel statistics, some 628,000 Korean made a trip to Taiwan during the first seven months of this year, expanding 10.2 percent from a year earlier. The number of Taiwanese travelers to Korea also jumped 11.6 percent to 727,000 over the same period.

By Noh Hyun and Cho Jeehyun

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