It has been confirmed through Channel A's reporting that the international route between Gimpo Airport and Haneda Airport, the fastest air route connecting Seoul, South Korea and Tokyo, Japan, and a symbol of Korea-Japan friendship, will resume on the 1st of next month. This marks the first resumption in approximately 2 years and 3 months since operations were suspended in March 2020 due to the novel coronavirus infectious disease (COVID-19). This is expected to be the first achievement for President Yoon Suk-yeol after taking office, as he emphasized "restoring Korea-Japan relations" since his days as a presidential candidate.

According to Korea-Japan diplomatic sources and the aviation industry on the 12th, the South Korean government (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport) notified each airline, including Korean Air and Asiana Airlines, of the "guidelines" that include the resumption of the Gimpo-Haneda route on the 11th. According to these guidelines, initially, two flights per week will be allocated per airline, and it is also included that the number of flights may increase further depending on the COVID-19 quarantine situation. It is also reported that these guidelines have been notified to the Japanese side.

Korea-Japan diplomatic sources told Channel A on the 12th, "The final approval will be made by the Japanese government, but it is expected that the Japanese side will also agree unless there are special reasons." In fact, as of the 12th, flight reservations are possible from the 1st of next month on Korean Air's online reservation site.

These are English translations of articles from our GTTOUR Japanese website.