Air Busan‘s Busan-Sapporo service has reopened after two years and nine months.
On December 1st, Air Busan announced that it resumed operations on the Busan-Sapporo route, starting on November 30th with flight BX182 from Busan to Sapporo, Japan. The flight on that day carried 162 people, with an 83% load factor.
The Busan-Sapporo flight departs at 8:35 a.m. from Gimhae International Airport and arrives at 11 a.m. at Sapporo Chitose Airport. The return flight departs at 11:55 a.m. and lands at Gimhae Airport at 2:40 p.m.
COVID-19 halted Busan-Sapporo flights in March 2020. Air Busan operated three times a week on the Busan-Sapporo route in December 2015 but upped its frequency to one round-trip flight each day. Sapporo had established itself as a popular winter travel destination, recording an average of more than 10,000 passengers per month every winter before the pandemic.
Air Busan has been steadily increasing its flights to Japan since the end of October in response to the Japanese government’s visa-free entry policy and a rise in visitors thanks to the weak yen.
The Busan-Fukuoka route now has three round-trip flights per day, but that number will extend to four from December 8th. The Busan-Narita flight will also resume daily operation from December 9th.
