SkyTeam alliance member China Airlines expects the relaxation of border restrictions in Taiwan and South Korea to boost Taiwanese tourism and business travel to South Korea and because of this is launching a new three-weekly route between its small hub in southern Taiwan, Kaohsiung, and Seoul’s downtown Gimpo Airport.

Flights will commence from July 6 and operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays with refreshed Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

The outbound flight CI184 will take off from Kaohsiung International Airport at 1430 and arrive at Gimpo International Airport at 1815; the inbound CI185 will take off at 1915 local time and return to Kaohsiung at 2115 Taiwan time.

Gimpo International Airport’s proximity to Seoul city center puts travelers within easy reach of Hongdae, Myeong Dong, N Seoul Tower and other popular downtown attractions.

China Airlines hopes the new route will make Korea more accessible for personal or business travel to people in southern Taiwan. It should also attract more Korean travelers to southern Taiwan, the airline said.

China Airlines is actively increasing the number of flights from Kaohsiung to better serve the people of southern Taiwan.

The Kaohsiung-Seoul (Incheon) route was increased from five to seven weekly flights in April.

The launch of the Kaohsiung-Seoul (Gimpo) route on July 6 will add three more weekly flights and bring the total number of weekly flights between Kaohsiung and Seoul to 10 return services.

Out of Kaohsiung, China Airlines currently also operates daily flights to both Tokyo (Narita) and Osaka, five weekly flights to Bangkok, five weekly flights to Shanghai (Pudong), three weekly flights to Xiamen, and daily flights to Hong Kong.

Kaohsiung-Manila route was increased from three to four weekly flights in April, and two weekly flights to Shenzhen were also introduced on April 20.

Kaohsiung will eventually have up to 50 flights per week to major Asian cities, China Airlines said.

China Airlines is assigning its all-new A321 neo aircraft to Kaohsiung’s Tokyo (Narita), Osaka, and Seoul (Incheon) routes.

The A321neo cabin features spacious seating, ultra-large high-resolution displays, high-speed Wi-Fi, and free text messaging service.

In the interim, the 737-800 cabins operated on Kaohsiung-Gimpo have also been upgraded with a new wireless entertainment system.

china-airlines.com