China and South Korea to Increase Air Transport Rights by 70 Round Trips per Week

The civil aviation authorities of both China and South Korea have agreed to increase air transport rights by 70 round trips per week.

Passenger flights will increase from 608 to 664 round trips per week, and cargo flights from 54 to 68 round trips per week. This is the first expansion of air transport rights in seven years, since 2019.

For passenger services, each of the routes between Seoul/Incheon and Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Dalian, Chengdu, and Harbin will be increased by 7 round trips per week. In addition, regional-only transport rights connecting regional airports in South Korea such as Busan and Cheongju with 10 cities in China—Guangzhou, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Chongqing, Kunming, Xi’an, Urumqi, Harbin, Shenyang, and Yanji—will also be expanded by 14 round trips per week.

For cargo services, transport rights connecting South Korea with four major Chinese cargo hub airports—Tianjin, Zhengzhou, Ezhou, and Hefei—will be expanded by 14 round trips per week, and the number of airports handled will increase from 10 to 12. Ezhou and Hefei will be newly added.

The number of passengers between South Korea and China in the first quarter of 2026 was approximately 4.39 million, surpassing the pre-COVID figure of 4.14 million and showing a robust recovery. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of South Korea stated that it will distribute the newly agreed transport rights to airlines during the second half of the year, aiming for an early increase in flight frequencies.