Press Release: 02SEP22

Korean Air recovers its route to Barcelona

Friday, September 2, 2022, 19:30h: Korean Air and the Barcelona Air Route Development Committee (CDRA) are meeting today at Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport to welcome back the Barcelona - Seoul (ICN) route.

The Barcelona Air Routes Development Committee (CDRA) within its Strategic Plan 2021-2024, has as its core objective the recovery of routes/companies that operated before the pandemic, greater capacity in some existing destinations with a high demand but low supply, as well as increased new routes to new destinations.

Asia is one of the most important intercontinental markets for Barcelona/Catalonia. The Republic of South Korea is among the CDRA's main target countries.

Recovery of this route is vital for Barcelona/Catalonia, which is why the CDRA has followed up with regular meetings throughout the pandemic with Korean Air and the Consulate General of the Republic of South Korea in Barcelona to show the confidence of the market and the importance of this route. It should be remembered that, pre-pandemic, Korean Air operated between 4/5 weekly frequencies and that is the goal to be achieved by the CDRA in the short/medium term.

For this reason, today, to give our full support to the recovery of Korean Air at JT Barcelona-El Prat airport with the route Barcelona - Seoul Incheon, we met with the Vice Consul of the Republic of Korea in Barcelona, H. Mr Lee Kwonyeol; representatives of the company, Miguel Rodriguez, Sales Manager Spain, Ms Juan Urbano, Cargo Manager Spain, and Mr Choi Byeong Jae, BCN Airport Manager; the Government Delegation in Catalonia, Mr Carlos Prieto; and the representatives of the CDRA: Aena - Vanessa Requena, Head of Management Office Barcelona; Generalitat de Catalunya: Isidre Gavin, Secretary of Territory and Mobility, Secretary of Territory and Mobility, Vice-Presidency and Ministry of Digital Policies and Territory and President of CDRA, and Mercè Rius, General Manager of Transports and Mobility; Barcelona City Council: Pau Solanilla, City Promotion Commissioner, and Verónica Tan, City Promotion and the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, and Laura Soria, Coordinator of the CDRA/GPA Secretariat.

As of today, we will once again have a direct connection to a country with more than 51 million inhabitants, where Barcelona already has a great brand image and common interests:

Schedules and configuration:

KE 915 Seoul (ICN) Barcelona 11:40 19:00

KE 916 Barcelona Seoul (ICN) 21:00 16:05

- 3 weekly frequencies (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday)

- Boeing 787 900: Cabins: C Prestige 24 seats/ Y Economy 245 seats

Korean Air was awarded "Airline of the Year 2021" by the specialized magazine, Air Transport World (ATW), during the 47th edition of the ATW Awards, reflecting the enormous effort they put into both their products and in-flight services.

Asia is one of the most important intercontinental markets for Barcelona/Catalonia.

There is an unserved demand to South Korea of 152,974 passengers who in 2019 flew via indirect flights (169,800 passengers flew direct), 11.8% of whom flew Business Class, and with a growth that year of 23% over the previous year. This demand does not show much seasonality (Data source: origin destination/non-directional/MIDT/Sabre).

Types of passengers are motivated by cultural and entertainment tourism, and shopping, amongst others. Business passengers related to Korean companies in Catalonia and v.v. are also expected.

Source: BARDC