Direct Hualien-Incheon flights to be suspended at end of July

Taipei, July 27 (CNA) Routine direct flights between Hualien and South Korea's Incheon International Airport will be suspended at the end of July, the Hualien County Tourism Department said Monday.

Yu Ming-hsun (余明勲), head of the department, said the route's operator, South Korean low-cost carrier Aero K Airline Co., is relocating its operating base to its headquarters in Cheongju, about 90 kilometers southeast of Seoul, due to rising international fuel costs.

Because of the operational shift, the airline is required to reapply for traffic rights, a process expected to take about one flight season, Yu said.

He added that the route is expected to resume at the end of October, with Cheongju replacing Incheon as the destination.

Yu acknowledged that the three-month suspension would inevitably affect tourism in Hualien. He said the county government had asked the airline to plan ahead to avoid the service gap, but the carrier had no choice but to adjust its operating strategy in response to higher fuel costs and rapidly changing international conditions.

The Hualien-Incheon route, with two round trips per week, was launched in November 2025 after the county government and Aero K signed a memorandum of understanding, making it Hualien's second scheduled international route after COVID-19 travel restrictions were lifted.