Korean LCC airline T’way Airlines that is scheduled to start daily flights connecting Naha and Seoul on Christmas Day, Dec. 25^th, announced at the Okinawa Prefectural Office on Oct. 1^st that the company would celebrate its inaugural flight by selling a batch of special priced tickets between Naha and Seoul.

The company has set the price of its batch of special tickets for the 20 available seats at ¥2,000 ~ ¥4,000 range. T’way Airlines put the tickets for sale on the Internet starting 2 p.m., yesterday, for two weeks, at http://www.twayairlines.jp/ (in Japanese only).

The executive director of T’way Airlines said, “Okinawa is said to be the ‘Hawaii of the Orient.’  In Korea, Okinawa is a very popular tourist destination.  We would like to offer reasonable fares, and target at a diverse range of people.”

The new route to Okinawa is the T-way’s fifth route to Japan after Fukuoka, Saga, Shinchitose and Oita.  Regular fares between Seoul and Naha start from ¥6,000, and the carrier aims to fill its aircraft capacity to more than 90% during high seasons, to more than 80% during regular seasons.

Other than T’way Airlines, Korean LCC airline Jeju Air, which is scheduled to start the service Dec. 1^st, and Asiana Airlines and Jin Air that currently run daily flights on the route have announced their intention to increase the flights.  The number of tourists from Korea to Okinawa 2013 totaled 98,400, while in 2014 it’s expected increase to more than 100,000.

Masaru Hirono, the president of AMS, the sole agency for T’way Airlines, says, “Our biggest concern is whether there are enough hotel rooms available. This needs to be taken care of in order to deal with the increasing demand.”

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