Aviation fund lands South Korea and US routes

Jetstar has this week commenced flying three times a week to Seoul’s Incheon International Airport, T’way Air will launch four weekly return flights from Incheon on 23 December 2022 and United Airlines has resumed flights from Houston with the first flight touching down at Sydney Airport on 30 October 2022.

Minister for Tourism Ben Franklin said these additional routes will deliver a significant boost to the NSW economy and bring thousands of tourists into the State.

“I am thrilled the NSW Government’s Aviation Attraction Fund has boosted flights between the United States, South Korea and Sydney,” Mr Franklin said.

“These additional flights will generate an estimated $65 million in visitor expenditure to our State, supporting hundreds of jobs and making a valuable contribution to the NSW economy.

“In 2019, NSW attracted 196,000 visitors from South Korea, who spent an estimated $558 million in our economy, while the United States was the second largest source of international travellers to NSW in August 2022 and there is huge potential for future growth.”

“These new routes will bring thousands of tourists into NSW which will provide a significant boost to local businesses and tourism operators.”

Sydney Airport CEO Geoff Culbert said these routes will deliver greater choice to passengers and help grow the tourism market.

“The Republic of Korea is Sydney’s seventh largest inbound visitor market and Australia is in strong demand among Korean residents with Sydney providing the gateway to regional travel. These services will ensure we can continue to meet that demand.”

Jetstar Airways’ Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Alan McIntyre said the new Jetstar route would provide greater connectivity between the two nations.

“We know the absence of a low cost, direct link between South Korea and Australia has been a barrier for many travellers to visit these two incredible countries. Our direct low-fares service will make visiting South Korea and Australia more convenient, affordable and accessible than ever before and we look forward to welcoming up to 100,000 passengers each year on these services.”

T’way Air CEO Hong-geun Jeong said adding Sydney as the first long haul route of T’way Air was an important step for the airline.

“It is very meaningful to add Sydney as the first long-haul route of T’way Air. As Republic of Korea and Sydney have built networks in many areas such as tourism, economic and education, we would like to contribute to provide greater connectivity between the two destinations.”

United Airways will initially fly three times a week from Houston to Sydney, then increase to daily flights from 17 December 2022. The Aviation Attraction Fund has also secured daily United Airlines flights from San Francisco and Los Angeles to Sydney.

To meet demand, United Airlines will increase services from San Francisco to 10 per week between 14 December 2022 and 10 February 2023.

The NSW Government opened applications for the Aviation Attraction Fund in February this year to build aviation capacity across the State.

The Aviation Attraction Fund, managed by Destination NSW on behalf of the NSW Government, is open until 30 June 2023.