Air Seoul Tokyo Branch

Of Air Seoul's seven Japanese routes, five (Shizuoka, Takamatsu, Hiroshima, Yonago and Toyama) were previously operated by the full-service carrier Asiana Airlines and were taken over by Air Seoul in 2016. The company added Kumamoto and Ube, bringing the number of regular routes to its current number. Generally, the vast majority of regular flights from Korea are bound for Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka and Hokkaido, but there is an increasing trend, and likewise growing customer needs, toward experiencing regional attractions, particularly among repeat travelers to Japan. Air Seoul's local routes are responding to this trend. Furthermore, for regional residents in Japan who are normally forced to take a connecting flight or bullet train to reach a destination within Japan or overseas, the company provides the option of going to Seoul by direct flight and then continuing to their final destination after sightseeing in the city and staying overnight.

To ensure its Japanese business expands, Air Seoul has set out to develop routes it predicts much demand and a large number of flights. The company launched routes to major cities (Osaka and Narita) in 2017 and then to cities that are highly popular with Korean tourists (Fukuoka, Naha, New Chitose) in 2018.

The fifth and strongest trump card is the “Mint Pass,” with which customers can travel with Air Seoul as many times as they like, with certain conditions, for one year from the date of purchase. The pass is named after the mint color of the Air Seoul logo. It can be purchased only when departing from Korea, and the routes, days and periods that can be used are limited. Peak seasons and consecutive holidays are not eligible for use, but the pass garners good reviews from customers.

In March 2018, Air Seoul launched “Mint Pass J,” limited to seven regional routes, in response to rising demand for flights to local regions in Japan from repeat visitors and other customers. The introduction of this pass has increased the number of passengers and occupancy rates on these routes. Explaining why the company introduced Mint Pass J, Branch Manager Kim says, “Because we were the last Korean LCC to enter Japan, we needed a unique measure to raise awareness. Just selling low-cost tickets for one round trip in the same way as other companies is not a differentiating feature, so we decided to offer the advantage of multiple flights.”

With the success of Mint Pass J, Air Seoul now sells several types of Mint Passes in different series, such as limited to Southeast Asian routes. The company does not offer mileage like other companies, but its customer base is growing thanks to Mint Pass.

In 2016, Air Seoul opened branches in eight cities in Japan and started operating local routes after a very short preparation period. Mr. Kim says, “We also had the advantage that we could use the existing infrastructure of Asiana Airlines.” As a subsidiary, the company was able to smoothly inherit not only the infrastructure but also the trusting relationships with regional governments and residents that Asiana Airlines had built.

In contrast, the company had no existing infrastructure for the new routes that it developed itself, and Mr. Kim says that there were only a limited number of options for securing flight departure and arrival slots due to the company's late arrival to the market. When Air Seoul established its Tokyo Branch, JETRO Invest Japan Business Support Center (IBSC) provided temporary office space, consultation on tax matters, market information and referrals to local interior contractors. Mr. Kim says, “It was a tremendous help being able to rent an office for free and get support regarding the administrative process. In addition, the market information provided by JETRO was reliable and useful as it was primarily collected from public institutions and was different from that we had collected ourselves.”

He describes the company’s future prospects as follows. “In three years we achieved our initial goal in Japan of stable operations and a stable sales system. Going forward, to achieve our goal of increasing our occupancy rate for flights from Japan, we will strengthen our marketing and communications so that Japanese customers feel a sense of familiarity with our brand. We will focus on details such as using social media in Japanese, exposing our brand to the Japanese media, posting detailed information about check-in and baggage on Japanese websites and displaying easy-to-understand information at airports.”

Mr. Kim had the following to say in conclusion: “In Japan, the whole country is working together in preparation for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games and responding to the expanding demand from inbound visitors. In addition to contributing to inbound travel to Japan, we will work to expand the number of Japanese tourists visiting Korea by steadily strengthening our operating network in Japan and offering differentiated ideas.”