China-Korea Fare War

China and Korea recently agreed on an open sky agreement for flights between Korea and Shandong Province and, as Korean newspaper, Dong A Ilbo, makes clear in its article, entitled, "Korean, Chinese in Fare War," "the race is on to lower the airfare for trips between Korea and China." 

Fares between Seoul's Incheon airport and Shandong Province which formerly cost 400,000 to 500,000 Won (approximately $420 to $530) roundtrip are now down to the 200,000 Won range (approximately $210) and are predicted to go as low as 100,000 Won (approximately $105) roundtrip in the near future.   

Roundtrip fares for flights between Incheon and Qingdao of Shandong Province are now 200,000 won. Fares between Incheon and Yantai of Shandong Province and Incheon and Ningbo (not Shandong) are 240,000 Won and fares between Incheon and Sanya, Hainan Island (also not in Shandong) are now 260,000 won.  Korean Air will be lowering its fare between Incheon and Weihai (in Shandong) to 200,000 won starting August 25 and it also plans to charge around 200,000 won for Incheon-Qingdao and Incheon-Yantai routes, when it begins service to those cities on August 25, at 200,000 won.  Asiana Airlines will lower its Incheon-Yantai return fare from 350,000 won to 200,000 won beginning August 25, and it is "now mulling over cutting prices for other routes too."

China Eastern Airlines' head of Planning and Public Relations stated "the heightening competition between Korean and Chinese carriers to lower prices and increase services is highly likely to bring the fare between Korea and cities in Shandong down to the 100,000 won range.�

This is all a result of the recently concluded Korea-China Air Travel Conference, at which Seoul and Beijing agreed on an open-sky deal to be carried out in phases, with the first step to be all Korean cities and China�s Shandong Province.  I am not sure what is driving the reduced fares between Seoul and Ningbo and Seoul and Sanya, but it is probably the same thing. 

Since China and Korea will be expanding their open sky agreement every year, "the race to cut prices, which began for routes between Korea and Shandong, is expected to spread to Beijing, Shanghai, and other major Chinese cities."  Since I nearly always pass through Seoul on my way to China, this is very good news indeed. 

I am a big fan of going from the United States' West Coast to China through Seoul.  Both Asiana Airlines and Korean Airlines fly nearly daily from Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles to Seoul and then on to various cities in China.  Both of these airlines are pretty good and both of them use brand new 777s to fly between Seattle and Seoul, with on-board internet access.  The fact that a Korean-American friend of mine owns a travel agency that gets great rates on the two Korean airlines also plays a big part. 

Korean Air's Seattle-Seoul-China connections are usually the same day, while Asiana Airlines' are usually the next day.  To make up for this, however, Asiana puts up its travelers, gratis, in a decent Incheon or Seoul hotel and covers dinner and breakfast as well.  I typically fly Asiana to China because Asiana is a member of the Star Alliance frequent flyer program while Korean Air is part of the Skyteam Alliance.  I also like spending the night in Seoul and then arriving in China the next morning, fairly rested.  As an added bonus, both Asiana and Korean Air have extensive Asian flight networks so if you are planning on going to other countries in Asia besides Korea and China, you can usually add on other Asian stops at a decent price. 

Perhaps as US-China fares through Korea come down, US-China fares will face price pressures as well.