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| Asiana Airlines A350-900 / Courtesy of Asiana Airlines |
By Kim Hyun-bin
Airlines are embroiled in fierce competition to acquire more aircraft as the pandemic subsides and international passenger demand surges. The global increase in passengers has resulted in a shortage of aircraft available for lease, with manufacturers steeply raising lease rates. Therefore, concerns are rising for airlines over the significant cost burden associated with introducing new aircraft.
According to sources in the aviation industry, domestic airlines in Korea are expected to introduce a total of 13 additional new passenger aircraft this year ― Asiana Airlines and Jeju Air with four aircraft each, followed by Korean Air and Jin Air with two aircraft. T'way Air plans to add one more aircraft to its fleet.
The aviation industry is responding to the recent rapid increase in international passenger demand, which declined during the COVID-19 pandemic, by actively pursuing the acquisition of new aircraft. In April, the number of passengers on the Incheon-Narita (Tokyo) route increased by over 40,000 from April 2019 to 269,459. Similarly, the Incheon-Bangkok and Incheon-Sydney routes experienced passenger growth of 2.1 percent and 64.8 percent, respectively.
Despite the surge in passenger demand, the aviation industry is facing challenges in acquiring new aircraft. As of early this year, major domestic airlines had a total of 319 passenger planes, 29 planes, or 8.3 percent fewer than the 348 in 2019. Even with the expected net increase of 13 planes by year-end, a shortage of 16 planes remains.
The shortage of passenger aircraft directly impacts international flight frequencies. As of April, the number of international flights at Incheon Airport stood at only 77 percent of the April 2019 level, with 12,515 flights out of 16,247.
Regional airports are also experiencing more shortages regarding international flights. During the same period, the number of international flights at Gimpo International Airport recovered to 94.6 percent of pre-pandemic levels, while Gimhae Airport and Daegu Airport reached only 49.1 percent and 26.1 percent, respectively.
"With the shortage of aircraft, priority must be given to deploying planes at airports in the metropolitan area, such as Incheon International Airport and Gimpo International Airport. The number of aircraft should reach the pre-COVID-19 level for regional airports to see international flights return to normalcy," an industry official said.
The decline in international flights, particularly at regional airports, is thus expected to continue. The rising aircraft lease rates present a challenging environment for the industry to expand its fleets.
According to the UK aviation analysis firm Cirium, lease rates for the Boeing 737-800NG have increased by 32 percent in the past year. With the increase in passengers, lessors have the upper hand over lessees in the aircraft leasing market, resulting in significant lease rate increases.
Apart from Korean Air, which maintains a lease-to-purchase ratio of approximately three to seven, most other domestic airlines primarily operate through leasing. The escalating lease rate, therefore, poses obstacles to the recovery of aircraft numbers for Korean carriers.
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