SOUTH KOREA. A rising vaccination rate and a widespread desire to travel again have resulted in a spike in air travel bookings, The Korea Herald reported today.
The title said that local ecommerce platform WeMakePrice had today reported a +442% jump in international flight bookings for the period between 27 May and 2 June – the point when the government’s leftover vaccine appointment programme began in a push to innoculate more of the population.
“With main travel destinations lifting quarantine requirements for vaccinated travellers and South Korean airlines reportedly planning to resume international flights later this year, suppressed travel demand seems to have exploded,” WeMakePrice said.
The report quoted Yoon Tae-ho, a senior official at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, telling a news briefing last week that multiple destinations are being considered for travel bubbles to be put in place. Singapore, Guam and Saipan are early candidates, it said.
Budget airline Jeju Air and Korean Air are also restarting flights to Guam the report said.
In other positive news, arrivals duty free stores at Incheon International Airport Terminal One reopened on Friday after being closed for seven months due to the pandemic. The two stores are run by KyungBokKung (formerly Entas Duty Free), after a tender earlier this year.
