On the morning of December 29, a Jeju Air plane carrying 181 passengers and crew members met with an accident at Muan International Airport in South Jeolla Province, about 290 km from Seoul. As of 5:26 PM (KST), it is reported that 174 people were confirmed dead, while 2 people, both crew members, were rescued.
The plane had departed from Bangkok, Thailand, and it was revealed that most passengers on the plane were families and children (born in the 2010s), who were returning to Korea after a Christmas trip.
According to witnesses near Muan Airport, the aircraft might have collided with a flock of birds as it was preparing to land. It then aborted the landing attempt, accelerated but failed to regain altitude, and circled at a low altitude, searching for a way to touch down on the opposite end of the runway.
On the second landing attempt, the landing gear seemingly failed to deploy, forcing the plane to land on its belly. Unable to control its speed, the aircraft veered off the runway, crashed into a wall, and caught on fire.
Before this tragedy, Jeju Air was South Korea’s most preferred LCC for many consecutive years. According to the National Customer Satisfaction Index (NCSI) by the Korean Productivity Center, 2023 marked the fifth consecutive year since 2018 that Jeju Air ranked first.
Jeju Air is also the first and largest low-cost airline in South Korea. In the overall market, it ranks second only to the national carrier, Korean Air.
Founded in 2005, Jeju Air has helped transform travel for Korean citizens and tourists. “Affordable prices have made air travel a part of daily life for many people. We’ve innovated to make South Korea a tourism destination in ways never seen before,” Jeju Air stated on its official website.
The airline operates a fleet of 42 aircraft, primarily Boeing narrow-body planes, with each averaging 13 hours of operation daily. Jeju Air conducts approximately 217 flights per day. Currently, the airline serves more than 62 routes to 44 destinations across the Asia-Pacific region.
As of Q1 2024, Jeju Air employs around 3,000 people. Its main hubs are Gimpo, Incheon (Seoul), and Jeju airports. Last year, the airline carried 12.3 million passengers and reported revenue of about $1.31 billion, with 2024 projections nearing $1.5 billion.
Jeju Air’s stock has been listed on the Korean stock exchange since 2015. It closed the trading session on December 27 at $5.58 per share, valuing the airline at approximately $440 million.
At a press conference held in South Korea this afternoon, Jeju Air CEO stated, “I bow deeply and extend my heartfelt apologies to everyone who loves Jeju Air. Above all, I offer my deepest condolences and apologies to the passengers who perished in the accident and their families.”
The CEO and Jeju Air executives bowed in apology during the December 29 press conference.
According to CEO Kim, it is currently difficult to assess the cause of the accident, as the airline awaits investigative reports from relevant government agencies.
In a prior statement following the incident, Jeju Air also pledged to do everything possible to address the situation.
However, the airline has been receiving harsh criticisms for its conduct after the tragedy, namely immediately leaving the scene without even holding a briefing and refusing to take questions, leaving firefighters and public officials, who are doing their best to provide relief at the scene, to endure the bereaved families’ anger.
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