South Korean airlines have taken the decision of bringing reduction in the number of routes between South Korea and China during the hot weather since there are fewer requirements of passengers travelling between the nations. National carrier Korean Air said it will freeze travelling between routes of Gimpo International Airport and Beijing from Aug 1 to Oct 28, while its routes connecting Incheon Airport and Xian will also be suspended from Aug 9 to Oct 28. The airline is thinking of bringing down the number of flights between Gimpo and Beijing from July 6.
The Incheon-Shenzhen route will also be suspended starting July 8. All three routes are set to restart being operated on Oct 28. The exclusion of major flight routes is happening as the numbers of Chinese travellers travelling into South Korea have reduced over the past few years, and demand from South Koreans to travel to China has also reduced which is resulting in worsening of rapport between the two nations. The number of Koreans travelling to China also reduced, with the proportion of South Korean travellers on flights to China reducing from 15.5 per cent to 5 per cent over the last three years.