Charter flights between Japan - Korea to start end November 2003

The JAL Group is to inaugurate a daily charter service between Tokyo's Haneda Airport and Seoul's Gimpo Airport on Sunday, November 30.

Haneda Airport has been primarily a domestic airport since May 1978, when Narita Airport opened. International flights were transferred to Seoul's Incheon Airport from Gimpo Airport in March 2001.

On October 24, the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MLIT) announced that charter services would be permitted from November 30, thus creating a new air link between the two capitals. Current scheduled flights between the two cities use Tokyo's Narita Airport and Incheon Airport.

Four airlines - two Japanese, two Korean - will each have one daily round trip flight. Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways will operate from Japan; Koreanair and Asiana will operate from Korea.

JAL will use 232-seat Boeing 767-300 aircraft for the charter flights.

The new flights will cater both to group package tourists and to individual travelers using JAL's own range of discount fares and regular fares.