Heavy snow, strong winds, and ongoing safety inspections are combining to disrupt air travel across South Korea, with more than 40 flights canceled on key domestic and regional routes. Korean Air, Eastar Jet, Philippine Airlines, and several other carriers have either scrubbed services or trimmed schedules, affecting major hubs including Seoul, Jeju, Busan, and Incheon. The latest wave of disruptions is stranding thousands of travelers, compounding wider anxiety about aviation safety following a series of serious incidents in the country’s skies.
Severe Weather Batters Jeju and Ripples Across Domestic Networks
The most immediate trigger for the latest round of cancellations has been a powerful winter system centered on Jeju Island. Jeju International Airport, the primary gateway to South Korea’s southern resort island, has faced intermittent shutdowns and capacity reductions as snow squalls and low visibility move across the runway and surrounding airspace. Officials at the airport reported that more than a hundred flights were canceled in a single day when the storm was at its peak, with domestic departures and arrivals bearing the brunt.
Korean Air, the nation’s flag carrier, halted all flights scheduled to depart Jeju from midmorning on one of the worst days of the storm, effectively freezing a significant portion of the country’s busiest domestic route network. Jeju is ordinarily one of the world’s most heavily trafficked city pairs when linked to Seoul, and even a short-lived shutdown can quickly cascade into dozens of cancellations. For travelers, this has translated into snaking queues at check-in counters, crammed departure halls, and a scramble to secure scarce seats on later flights.
The weather has not only constrained operations on Jeju itself. Heavy snowfall and crosswinds at other regional airports have limited takeoffs and landings, further reducing capacity on routes linking the island with Busan, Daegu, and smaller cities. Low-cost carriers and full-service airlines alike have had to thin their schedules or cancel entire rotations, putting pressure on already tight winter timetables. As aircraft and crews are displaced by the weather, knock-on effects continue to be felt even on days when the skies clear.
From Seoul to Busan: Major Hubs Strained as Cancellations Mount
Seoul’s dual-airport system at Incheon and Gimpo has also been feeling the strain as carriers attempt to recover out-of-position aircraft and accommodate disrupted passengers. While the capital itself has largely escaped the worst of the snow, the national network is so intertwined that any extended closure at Jeju or a key regional field forces carriers to rejig schedules out of Seoul as well. In practice, this has meant last-minute cancellations or aircraft swaps on departures to Busan, Ulsan, Gwangju, and other cities, often announced only hours before departure.
Busan’s Gimhae International Airport, the country’s second-busiest international gateway, has become another focal point of the disruption. The airport has seen rolling delays and select cancellations as carriers respond not only to winter conditions but to heightened safety checks following a recent onboard fire involving an Air Busan jet. While that incident did not cause fatalities, it left a charred fuselage on the tarmac and rattled public confidence just weeks after a deadly crash at Muan International Airport.
For passengers traveling between Seoul and Busan, traditionally one of the most competitive air corridors before the advent of high-speed rail, the upshot has been a volatile patchwork of operations. Morning flights have departed relatively on time, only for afternoon services to be annulled as aircraft return late from weather-challenged rotations. Evening departures have sometimes been consolidated, leaving travelers vying for the last available seats or weighing a switch to rail at premium last-minute fares.
Jeju Island: South Korea’s Leisure Lifeline Under Pressure
Jeju occupies a unique place in South Korea’s domestic travel landscape, both as a year-round vacation destination and as a barometer of consumer confidence. During peak holiday periods in recent years, airlines have routinely sold out Jeju-bound flights days in advance, even as fares surged. The island’s popularity makes any operational disruption especially painful, and this winter’s combination of rough weather and heightened safety scrutiny is proving no exception.
On peak storm days, airport authorities estimated that roughly 15,000 travelers were stranded on Jeju as departures were scrubbed and arriving flights diverted or delayed. Families with small children, tour groups with fixed itineraries, and business travelers needing to connect onward from Seoul all found themselves competing for a limited number of rebooked seats. Hotel prices rose as unexpected overnight stays stacked up, and car rental counters in Jeju City reported a spike in extensions from visitors unable to fly home as planned.
Even when flights have managed to operate, conditions have been far from routine. Strong crosswinds and intermittent snow showers have required pilots to pause taxiing, circle in holding patterns, or divert to alternate airports on the mainland. For passengers, the experience has often meant extended time on the tarmac, repeated gate changes, and a sense that schedules are more aspirational than guaranteed. With winter not yet over, local tourism operators are bracing for additional weather-linked disruptions before the spring season offers more stable conditions.
Korean Air and Eastar Jet Respond to Operational and Safety Challenges
Korean Air, as the country’s largest airline and a major player in both domestic and international markets, has been at the center of the response to the current disruptions. The carrier has deployed extra staff at check-in and customer service counters, rerouted certain aircraft to cover high-demand routes, and offered free or reduced-fee rebooking options for passengers affected by weather and safety-related changes. At the same time, Korean Air is juggling longer term fleet and network adjustments, including supplemental widebody leasing to cover delayed new aircraft deliveries.
Within the domestic market, Korean Air faces the dual challenge of ensuring schedule reliability while also serving as a standard-setter for safety practices. In the wake of the Muan crash and subsequent nationwide inspections of Boeing 737-800 aircraft, industry officials have looked to the flag carrier to model rigorous maintenance and oversight. Coordinating with regulators, Korean Air has had to rotate aircraft through detailed checks, occasionally grounding jets that would otherwise have operated popular domestic routes such as Seoul Jeju or Seoul Busan.
Eastar Jet, a smaller low-cost carrier that only relatively recently resumed international services after a pandemic-era hiatus and restructuring, has found itself particularly exposed to irregular operations. With a compact fleet and limited slack, the grounding of a single aircraft for unscheduled maintenance can quickly ripple into multiple cancellations. Historical episodes have shown how mechanical issues on one jet can force a series of flight scrubs across the network, stranding hundreds of passengers and drawing public criticism.
In the current climate of heightened scrutiny, Eastar is under pressure to show that any weather or maintenance-related cancellations are handled transparently and with adequate passenger care. That includes clearer communication about the cause of disruptions, timely issuance of meal and hotel vouchers, and proactive coordination with other carriers where possible to reaccommodate travelers on fully booked routes.
Philippine Airlines and Other Foreign Carriers Adjust Korean Schedules
While the sharpest pain points have been felt on domestic services, international routes linking South Korea with key Asian hubs have not been immune. Philippine Airlines and other foreign carriers operating into Incheon, Busan, and occasionally Jeju have had to revise timetables and cancel select flights in response to a mix of factors. These include reduced airport capacity during storms, congestion caused by aircraft inspections, and shifting demand as travelers rethink itineraries in light of recent accidents.
Philippine Airlines, which serves Incheon from Manila and Cebu and has in past seasons considered Jeju as a charter or seasonal destination, is understood to have enacted tactical cancellations and schedule trims when weather alerts and slot restrictions have made on-time operations unrealistic. In some cases, flights have been consolidated, with passengers moved from a canceled rotation to a later departure on a different day or routed through alternative gateways in Japan or elsewhere in the region.
Other foreign carriers in Northeast and Southeast Asia have taken a similarly cautious approach. Some have reduced frequencies on marginal routes, preferring to concentrate capacity on flights with stronger demand and more reliable operating conditions. For South Korean travelers heading to beach destinations in the Philippines or transit hubs such as Bangkok and Singapore, this has meant fewer options and less flexibility when last-minute changes arise on the domestic leg of their journey.
Safety Inspections and Public Anxiety After a Deadly Crash
Layered on top of winter weather is a deeper unease about aviation safety in South Korea, following a catastrophic crash of a Jeju Air flight at Muan International Airport in late 2024. That accident, which killed nearly all of the 181 people on board, prompted an intensive investigation and a far-reaching review of maintenance practices, pilot training, and airport infrastructure across the country. It also triggered a government-ordered inspection of all Boeing 737-800 aircraft in the fleets of South Korean airlines.
Inspectors have been combing through maintenance logs, engines, landing gear, and critical control systems to identify any systemic vulnerabilities. The timetable for these checks, initially designed to be completed within days, has been extended more than once as authorities uncover areas requiring further scrutiny or corrective action. While regulators and airlines stress that the priority is to ensure safety before returning aircraft to full service, the practical consequence has been a rolling series of aircraft groundings that directly affect operational capacity.
For the traveling public, the combination of high-profile accidents, onboard incidents such as the Air Busan cabin fire, and widespread inspections has fueled a sense of uncertainty. Surveys and booking data show a dip in demand for certain low-cost carriers, alongside a rise in questions over aircraft models and safety records at the point of sale. Many passengers are willing to accept cancellations and delays if they are clearly framed as safety-driven decisions, but frustration mounts when communication is patchy or when compensation policies appear opaque.
Passenger Rights, Rebooking Options, and Practical Advice
Against this backdrop of disruption, passengers flying to, from, or within South Korea face an unusually high risk of schedule changes this winter. Travelers booked on routes served by Korean Air, Eastar Jet, Philippine Airlines, and other regional carriers should be prepared for last-minute adjustments, especially on services touching Jeju, Busan, or smaller regional airports that may be vulnerable to weather or capacity restrictions. Flexibility in travel plans, including a willingness to shift dates or accept alternative routings, can significantly improve the chances of reaching a destination without extended delays.
Most airlines serving the South Korean market have published policies that allow free rebooking or waivers of change fees when cancellations are due to weather or operational disruptions beyond the passenger’s control. However, the specifics vary by carrier and by fare class. Full-service airlines typically offer broader support, including meal vouchers and overnight accommodation when delays stretch past certain thresholds, while low-cost carriers may provide more limited assistance. Travelers are advised to review their booking conditions carefully and to keep boarding passes, receipts, and documentation in case reimbursement claims are necessary.
For those with tight connections, such as same-day links from domestic airports to long-haul departures out of Incheon, building in additional buffer time has become more important than ever. Where possible, booking through a single carrier or alliance can simplify rebooking if a domestic segment is disrupted. In high-risk weather windows, some travelers may consider rail alternatives between Seoul and Busan or other major cities, using air only where there is no viable ground option.
Looking Ahead: Restoring Confidence in South Korea’s Skies
The convergence of winter storms, aircraft inspections, and recent high-profile incidents has placed South Korea’s aviation sector under exceptional strain. For Korean Air, Eastar Jet, Philippine Airlines, and their peers, the immediate challenge is to stabilize operations while maintaining a zero-compromise posture on safety. That means making difficult calls to cancel flights when conditions deteriorate, even at the cost of short-term inconvenience and financial loss.
In the medium term, regulators and airlines are working to reinforce the foundations of public trust. This includes tightening oversight of low-cost carriers, accelerating the integration of regional brands under stronger safety management systems, and investing in upgraded infrastructure at airports prone to weather disruptions. At Jeju and Busan, better runway de-icing capabilities, more robust wind shear detection, and refined air traffic control procedures are among the measures under review.
For travelers, the current turbulence is likely to persist through the remaining winter weeks, especially on routes linked to Jeju and other weather-sensitive destinations. Yet the intense focus on safety, combined with a gradually improving understanding of the causes behind recent incidents, offers a path toward a more resilient system. As spring approaches and storm risks ease, South Korea’s airlines will be eager not only to restore their full schedules but also to demonstrate that the lessons of this difficult season have been fully absorbed, making the skies safer for all who rely on them.