Eastar Jet was established on October 26, 2007, and itsair operator's certificate was acquired the following year on August 6. On January 7, 2009, Eastar Jet launched its first commercial flight from Seoul to Jeju with aBoeing 737. It commenced operations on its second route - Cheongju-Jeju - on June 12, 2009. Six months later, on December 24, 2009, Eastar Jet launched its first international flight from Incheon toKuching, Malaysia. Within two years of commencing operations, the airline reached the 1 million mark in passengers carried on January 6, 2010.
The airline joined theU-FLY Alliance on July 27, 2016; it is the fifth member of the alliance.[2]
On 2 March 2020,Jeju Air, one of the South Korean Low-Cost Carriers decided to take over the management rights of Eastar Jet and signed a stock trading contract. Jeju Air acquired a 51.17% stake in Eastar Jet cost of 54.5 billion won.[3] andJeju Air's M&A plan got approval fromFair Trade Commission of the Republic of Korea.[4] However, on 23 July 2020, Jeju Air announced that it was to give up the acquisition of Eastar Jet due to economic uncertainty caused by theCOVID-19 pandemic.[5][6]
In August 2020, Eastar Jet pushed forward to re-mergers and acquisitions and selected three companies.[7] Eastar Jet also began restructuring, the plan included reduction of its fleet of 16 aircraft to four and reduce the labor force from 1,200 to 400; however, Jeju Air would rehire all of its dismissed employees.[8]
On June 17, 2021, it was announced that Eastar Jet was set to be acquired for more than US$97 million by property developer and preferred bidder Sung Jung, following an auction of the airline.[9] However, Sung Jung sold the entire stake of Eastar Jet to VIG Partners, a private equity fund company, in January 2023.[10]
Eastar Jet resumed operations in 2023 with three aircraft, supported by an investment from private equity firm VIG Partners. By the end of 2023, the airline had expanded its fleet to 10 aircraft.
During 2024, the fleet was expanded to 15 aircraft with the addition of four Boeing 737-800s and one Boeing 737 MAX 8. An additional 12 Boeing 737 MAX 8s were purchased. This time, the contract is for new planes rather than used ones, and the airline plans to take delivery of seven in 2025 and five in 2026, increasing the fleet to 27 aircraft by 2026.
According to AirPortal, an aviation information system of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the number of domestic passengers of Eastar Jet between January and October 2024 was 2.2 million and 1.48 million international flights, recovering to about 72% from 2019 (2.59 million domestic and 2.5 million international).[11]
^"이스타항공, 내달 26일 일본 도쿠시마 취항…"국내 항공사 최초"" [Eastar Jet will launch in Tokushima, Japan on the 26th of next month..."For the first airlines in Korea."] (in Korean). Yonhap News Agency. 19 November 2024.
^"이스타항공, 4월부터 카자흐 알마티 주 2회 운항…국내 LCC 처음" [Eastar Jet, begins 2 weekly operations to Almaty, Kazakhstan…First in Korea LCC]. Yonhap News Agency. Retrieved13 February 2025.
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Media related toEastar Jet at Wikimedia Commons
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