Air Premia

Air Premia
Air Premia Boeing 787-9 departing from Narita International Airport
IATA ICAO Call sign
YP[1] APZ[1] AIR PREMIA
FoundedJuly 27, 2017 (2017-07-27)
Commenced operationsAugust 11, 2021 (2021-08-11)
HubsIncheon International Airport
Frequent-flyer programPremia Members
Fleet size7
Destinations11
HeadquartersSeoul, South Korea
Key peopleYoo Myung-sub (CEO)
FounderKim Jong-chul
Websiteairpremia.com

Air Premia, Inc. (Korean: 에어프레미아㈜; RR: eeo peuremia jusik hoesa) is a South Korean airline based in Seoul. It describes itself as a "hybrid airline", providing a higher level of service than low-cost airlines while having lower operating costs than larger, full-service airlines. The airline was founded in 2017 by the former president of Jeju Air, Kim Jong-chul.[2]

History

Air Premia was established on July 27, 2017, by the ex-president of Jeju Air, Kim Jong-chul.[2] In April 2019, the airline intended to launch in 2020 and lease three Boeing 787-9s from Air Lease Corporation (ALC),[3] but later announced that it had agreed to purchase five.[4] The airline was initially expected to launch with regional routes within Asia, but later intended to operate long-haul routes to Europe and the United States.[5]

In April 2021, Air Premia received its first Boeing 787-9, with plans to operate 10 aircraft by the end of 2024.[6][7] On August 11, 2021, the airline celebrated its inauguration of flights with a domestic service between Seoul and Jeju.[8] Domestic services ended on October 30, 2021, as the airline prepared to transition to exclusively operating international routes.[9] These consisted of a mix of scheduled, chartered, passenger, and dedicated cargo services to destinations in Asia, Europe, and North America.

Destinations

As of April 2025, Air Premia operates or has operated to the following destinations:

Country City Airport Start date End date Notes Refs
Bangladesh Dhaka Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport October 3, 2023 Present Charter [10][11]
Germany Frankfurt Frankfurt Airport June 27, 2023 December 30, 2023 Terminated [12][13]
Hong Kong Hong Kong Hong Kong International Airport January 24, 2025 Present [14]
Japan Tokyo Narita International Airport December 23, 2022 Present [15]
Norway Oslo Oslo Airport, Gardermoen May 11, 2023 Present Charter [16]
Singapore Singapore Changi Airport December 24, 2021 March 26, 2023 Terminated [17][18]
South Korea Jeju Jeju International Airport August 11, 2021 October 30, 2021 Terminated [8][9]
Seoul Gimpo International Airport August 11, 2021 October 30, 2021 Terminated [8][9]
Incheon International Airport December 24, 2021 Present Hub [17][19]
Spain Barcelona Josep Tarradellas Barcelona–El Prat Airport September 11, 2023 Present Charter [20]
Thailand Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport March 11, 2022 Present [21][22][23]
Turkey Ankara Ankara Esenboğa Airport August 27, 2022 November 12, 2022 Terminated [24]
United States Honolulu Daniel K. Inouye International Airport December 31, 2023
July 2, 2025		 March 4, 2024
—		 Resuming [25][26]
Los Angeles Los Angeles International Airport October 15, 2022 Present [27]
Newark Newark Liberty International Airport May 22, 2023 Present [28]
San Francisco San Francisco International Airport May 17, 2024 Present [29]
Vietnam Da Nang Da Nang International Airport January 23, 2025 Present [30]
Ho Chi Minh City Tan Son Nhat International Airport January 12, 2022 October 29, 2023 Terminated [31][32][33]

Interline agreements

Air Premia has interlining agreements with the following airlines:

Fleet

As of March 2025, Air Premia operates the following aircraft:[36]

Air Premia fleet
Aircraft In
service 		Orders Passengers Notes
C Y Total
Boeing 787-9 7 2 56 253 309 Deliveries through 2025.[37]
264 320
35 309 344
Total 7 2

Fleet development

Air Premia's initial fleet was planned to consist of three Boeing 787-9s, but this was later increased to five.[3][4] In early 2024, Air Premia planned to increase its fleet with an additional four 787-9s to be leased from Korean Air starting later in 2024, as part of addressing competition concerns with Korean Air's proposed merger with Asiana Airlines.[37]

Service concept

Air Premia operates two cabins and classes of service on its aircraft, consisting of a premium economy cabin (branded as Premia 42) consisting of 56 seats in a 2–3–2 layout, and an economy class cabin (branded as Economy 35) consisting of seats in a 3–3–3 layout, with the numbers in the branding reflecting their respective seat pitch in inches.[38] In contrast to low-cost carriers, Air Premia includes various services complimentary rather than imposing additional fees for them, such as baggage allowances, in-flight catering, and in-flight entertainment. However, the airline still provides some buy on board services, such as for duty-free sales and Wi-Fi access.

References

  1. ^ a b "Air Premia receives IATA and ICAO codes". Corporate Travel Community. April 21, 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Air Premia Airline Profile". CAPA.
  3. ^ a b "Air Premia to Introduce Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner". Air Premia (Press release). February 1, 2019.
  4. ^ a b Nukina, Keishi (October 30, 2019). "Korean Start-Up Air Premia Announces Plans to Buy Five 787-9s". KN Aviation. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
  5. ^ Tae-hee, Lee (September 15, 2022). "Air Premia to introduce Incheon-Los Angeles service Oct. 29". koreajoongangdaily.joins.com. JoongAng Daily Co., Ltd. Retrieved February 13, 2025.
  6. ^ "Air Premia to receive three Boeing 787-9s in 2022". Corporate Travel Community. February 11, 2022.
  7. ^ "Air Premia leases two Boeing 787-9s from Aergo Capital". CAPA. August 5, 2022.
  8. ^ a b c "Air Premia to launch first domestic service in Aug-2021". CAPA. August 2, 2021.
  9. ^ a b c Kim, Yong-kwon (October 28, 2021). "에어프레미아 국내선 운항 종료...12월 싱가포르 취항 추진" [Air Premia ends domestic operation...launching to Singapore in December] (in Korean). Financial News.
  10. ^ Liu, Jim (May 18, 2023). "Air Premia Adds Bangladesh Scheduled Charters From July 2023". AeroRoutes.
  11. ^ Liu, Jim (September 8, 2023). "Air Premia Moves Dhaka Service Launch to Oct 2023". AeroRoutes.
  12. ^ Liu, Jim (March 23, 2023). "Air Premia schedules Frankfurt June 2023 launch". AeroRoutes.
  13. ^ Lim, Seong-ho (November 10, 2023). "에어프레미아, 인천∼프랑크푸르트 노선 12월 30일부터 비운항" [Air Premia, suspends Incheon~Frankfurt from December 30]. Yonhap News Agency (in Korean).
  14. ^ Lim, Seong-ho (October 7, 2024). "에어프레미아, 내년 1월 인천∼홍콩 신규 취항" [Air Premia to launch new Incheon-Hong Kong route in January next year]. Yonhap News Agency (in Korean).
  15. ^ Liu, Jim (November 9, 2022). "Air Premia Plans Tokyo late-Dec 2022 Launch". AeroRoutes. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
  16. ^ Jang, Yong-seok (March 24, 2023). "에어프레미아, 팬데믹 이후 최초 5월 노르웨이 직항로 취항" [Air Premia, launches direct route to Norway in May for the first time since pandemic]. Global Economic (in Korean).
  17. ^ a b Yi, Won-ju (December 24, 2021). "Air Premia opens cargo flights to Singapore". Yonhap News Agency.
  18. ^ "Incheon-Singapore route suspension notice". Air Premia (Press release). March 24, 2023.
  19. ^ Choi, Pyeong-cheon (March 11, 2022). "에어프레미아, 인천~방콕 노선 운항…국제선 3번째 취항" [Air Premia, begins Incheon~Bangkok route…third international route to launch]. Yonhap News Agency (in Korean).
  20. ^ Liu, Jim (May 15, 2023). "Air Premia Schedules Seoul – Barcelona Charters From Sep 2023". AeroRoutes.
  21. ^ Choi, Kyong-ae (March 11, 2022). "Air Premia opens cargo flights to Bangkok". Yonhap News Agency.
  22. ^ Liu, Jim (February 24, 2023). "Air Premia Adds Bangkok Service in April 2023". Aeroroutes.
  23. ^ Liu, Jim (May 1, 2023). "Air Premia Expands Bangkok Flights from June 2023". AeroRoutes.
  24. ^ Liu, Jim (September 2, 2022). "Air Premia Expands Ankara Charters to mid-Nov 2022". AeroRoutes.
  25. ^ Liu, Jim. "Air Premia Files 1Q24 Honolulu Schedule". AeroRoutes. Retrieved August 23, 2023.
  26. ^ Liu, Jim (April 7, 2025). "Air Premia schedules July 2025 Hawaii service resumption". AeroRoutes. Retrieved April 15, 2025.
  27. ^ Liu, Jim (September 3, 2022). "Air Premia Tentatively Moves Los Angeles Debut to mid-Oct 2022". AeroRoutes.
  28. ^ Liu, Jim (March 16, 2023). "Air Premia Launches Seoul – Newark Service From May 2023". AeroRoutes.
  29. ^ Liu, Jim (January 19, 2024). "Air Premia Schedules mid-May 2024 San Francisco Launch". AeroRoutes. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  30. ^ Liu, Jim (September 30, 2024). "Air Premia schedules Seoul-Da Nang 1Q25 launch". AeroRoutes.
  31. ^ Choi, Kyong-ae (January 12, 2022). "Air Premia opens cargo flights to Vietnam". Yonhap News Agency.
  32. ^ Liu, Jim (August 12, 2022). "Air Premia Schedules Ho Chi Minh City Passenger Service in Oct 2022". AeroRoutes. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
  33. ^ "Incheon – Ho Chi Minh route suspension notice". Air Premia (Press release). June 15, 2023.
  34. ^ "에어프레미아, 알래스카항공과 인터라인 협약…"미주·중남미 연결"" [Air Premia, Alaska Airlines, Interline Agreement… “Connecting the Americas, Central and South America”]. Edaily (in Korean). July 4, 2024.
  35. ^ Lee, Seung-yeon (May 27, 2024). "에어프레미아, 대한항공과 동북아·동남아 연계노선 티켓 판매" [Air Premia, signs interline agreement with Korean Air to sales for Northeast Asia-Southeast Asia links]. Yonhap News Agency (in Korean).
  36. ^ "About aircraft". Air Premia.
  37. ^ a b "Korean Air to lease four B787-9s to Air Premia to resolve competition concerns in the US". Aviator. January 24, 2024. Retrieved April 27, 2024.
  38. ^ "Services by class". Air Premia. Retrieved April 27, 2024.
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