Some 67,000 reservation cancellations have been received in the last few hours South Korean low-cost airline Jeju Air after one of its planes with 181 occupants crashed at Muan International Airport on Sunday. There are 179 deaths, making it the worst plane accident of 2024.
A team of about 80 firefighters continues to carry out search and rescue operations in the area of the incident. The two black boxes were found hours after the accident, although the South Korean Ministry of Transportation has reported that the flight data recorder (FDR) has been damaged. It could take a while between one and six months to decode it.
Jeju Air CEO Kim E Bae has issued a public apology and conveyed his condolences to the families and friends of the deceased. The person in charge of the airline has assumed “full responsibility as CEOregardless of the cause.” Kim has assured that the plane underwent regular maintenance and at no time did the controls show evidence of malfunction.
The South Korean government has announced rigorous safety inspections of Jeju Air. Because in addition to the fatal accident this Sunday related to its landing gear, This Monday, another airline plane reported the same problem and was forced to return to the departure airport, Gimpo.
“We plan to implement rigorous safety inspections in response to the landing gear incidents,” said an aviation official at the Ministry of Transportation.
High aircraft utilization rate
Jeju Air is one of North Korea’s leading low-cost airlines. According to the ministry, the company is Known for its high ship utilization ratewhich some experts believe could be a factor in the accident.
The company named after Jeju Islandthe largest in South Korea. It is headquartered in Jeju City, with its largest base at Jeju International Airport.
Jeju Air was founded in 2005; acquired its first aircraft in May 2006; and made its first commercial flight, on the Jeju-Gimpo route, on June 5, 2006. It offers scheduled domestic services, as well as international destinations such as China, Japan, Oceania and Southeast Asia.
This Korean airline is founding member of Value Alliance, the world’s first pan-regional alliance of low-cost airlines, formed by eight companies from Asia Pacific.
No fatal accident until Sunday
Their fleet is made up 35 Boeing 737-800 aircrafttwo Boeing 737 MAX 8 and two other Boeing 737-800BCF. Another 38 MAX is on order to replace the 737-800. In these almost 20 years of service there had only been three incidents and no deaths had been recorded in any of them.
He August 12, 2007a De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 aircraft overshot the runway at Gimhae International Airport. All 74 passengers and five crew members survived, but four passengers suffered injuries. The aircraft suffered considerable damage and was reported lost.
In March 2022, the South Korean Ministry of Transportation stopped two Jeju Air flights for 20 and 7 days, respectively, for not following the security protocol.
A company well valued by its clients
Before the fatal accident, Jeju Air had received applause from users in 2024. In the National Customer Satisfaction Index (NCSI) of the Korea Productivity Headquarters, it ranked first place in the low cost lines category for the third consecutive year.
Jeju Air has reported about 67,000 reservation cancellations for their flights in the last hours after Sunday’s accident: some 34,000 are domestic flights and 33,000 are international. The airline’s shares fell 8.65% on the Seoul Stock Exchange this Monday and those of its parent company, Aekyung Holdings, fell even more, by 12%.
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