At 6:37 am local time on December 30th, Jeju Airlines Flight 7C101, departing from Seoul Gimpo Airport in South Korea and flying to Jeju, discovered abnormal landing gear shortly after takeoff. Jeju Airlines immediately returned after explaining the situation to the 161 passengers on board the flight. According to CCTV News, the flight landed again at Gimpo Airport at 7:25 am and planned to replace the aircraft before resuming operations.
The person in charge of Jeju Airlines stated that the decision to return was made from a safety perspective and apologized for any inconvenience caused to passengers. The aircraft model that returned on the same day is the same as the Boeing 737-800 that crashed at South Korea's Woan International Airport on December 29th.
Affected by the news of the aviation accident, on December 30th, the stock price of Jeju Airlines JEJUAIR (089590) fell sharply by 16% at the opening, hitting a record low. The stock price of Jeju Airlines' parent company AK Holdings fell by 12%, reaching its lowest level since 2010. It is reported that on November 6, 2015, Jeju Airlines was listed on the Korean Stock Exchange, becoming the first low-cost airline to be listed in Korea since 1999.
We are currently investigating the cause of the air crash
Before Jeju Airlines Flight 7C101 returned due to abnormal landing gear, Jeju Airlines had just experienced a plane crash.
On December 29th local time, a passenger plane veered off the runway and crashed into the airport wall while landing at the Woan Airport in Jeollanam do, South Korea. The passenger plane involved in the accident was Jeju Air Flight 7C2216 departing from Bangkok, Thailand, carrying 173 South Korean passengers, 2 Thai passengers, and 6 crew members, totaling 181 people.
The South Korean Fire Department stated that except for 2 people who were rescued in the collision and fire accident of a South Korean plane, all 179 people on board died. This is the deadliest air crash that has occurred domestically in South Korea.
According to the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, it is speculated that the collision and fire accident of the South Korean plane was caused by the plane hitting a flock of birds. On the same day, South Korean media released a video allegedly capturing the moment when a plane collided with a bird.
After the accident, the official website of Jeju Airlines has turned into a black and white page, and a letter of apology from Jeju Airlines representative director Jin Lipei has been posted. The letter stated that the cause of the accident needs to wait for official investigation by relevant government agencies, and Jeju Airlines is making every effort to handle the accident as soon as possible and support the families of passengers. At the same time, we will work together with the government to make every effort to identify the cause of the accident.
Jeju Airlines official website
In response to this incident, Boeing stated that it is in contact with Jeju Airlines regarding flight 2216 and is ready to provide support at any time.
At a press conference held by the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism on the afternoon of December 29th, it was also reported that at around 8:57 local time, the control tower of Woan International Airport issued a warning stating that Jeju Air Flight 7C2216 had collided with a flock of birds. Then, at around 8:58 am, the captain of Jeju Air Flight 7C2216 issued a warning; quot; Mayday& quot; The emergency distress signal was received, and at around 9 o'clock, the plane attempted to land on the runway; Afterwards, at around 9:03 am, the plane landed with the fuselage without opening the landing gear and eventually crashed into the airport fence, causing an explosion and fire.
A maintenance release engineer said that from the on-site video, not only did the landing gear not come down, but the flaps of the aircraft were also not released, and the landing speed was very high. It should be due to the operation of the crew, and in a hurry, it was not released according to the procedure
Senior captain Chen Jianguo also stated that if a bird strike occurs, causing engine wheezing, it will not directly result in the landing gear not being fully lowered.
He also mentioned that the landing gear uses the pressure of the hydraulic A system, and even without the pressure of the hydraulic A system, the landing gear can be manually released from the locking device by its own gravity.
It is possible that the night flight crew was quite exhausted, and after encountering a bird strike, or based on the shadow of the Azerbaijan E190 air disaster two days ago, the crew was eager to land and made mistakes in their busy schedule, missing normal operating procedures, "Chen Jianguo analyzed.
Paid safety fines of 3.7 billion Korean won within five years
According to the official website of Jeju Airlines, Jeju Airlines is a chain enterprise of the Aijing Group and the largest low-cost airline in South Korea, founded in 2005. Jeju Airlines has routes from Jeju to different cities such as Japan, China, the Philippines, and Thailand. As the utilization rate of aircraft increases, the marginal cost decreases. Generally speaking, budget airlines will increase their "red eye flights" departing after midnight in order to maintain revenue. The accident that occurred at Wu'an Airport this time is the first major aviation accident in the airline's 19 year history.
According to the PlanetSpotters website, Jeju Airlines currently operates a total of 40 aircraft, all of which are Boeing 737 series aircraft. Among them, 38 are in operation and 2 are parked, with an average age of 14.8 years. Compared with the other three low-cost airlines in South Korea, Jeju Air's fleet size is among the top. The current fleet size of True Airlines is 31 aircraft, the fleet size of Yista Airlines is 15 aircraft, and the current fleet size of Dewei Airlines is 38 aircraft.
But from the perspective of safety indicators, Jeju Airlines' performance is not as good as the other three low-cost airlines. According to the South Korean local media Daily Economy, since 2012, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of South Korea has regularly released safety information on domestic and foreign airlines operating in the country, in accordance with the Aviation Safety Law. Statistics show that from 2019 to August this year, the total amount of fines imposed by 8 domestic airlines in South Korea was 13.8 billion Korean won.
The highest payment amount was paid by Jeju Airlines, with 3.738 billion Korean won (approximately 18.56 million RMB); Next is Yista Airlines with 2.86 billion Korean won; Dewei Airlines 2.439 billion Korean won; Korean Air 1.62 billion Korean won; Hana Airlines earns 1.554 billion Korean won.
According to financial data from Jeju Airlines, its total sales in the third quarter of this year reached KRW 460.2 billion, an increase of 5.4% compared to the same period last year; Net profit was 43.1 billion Korean won, a significant increase of 59% compared to the same period last year.
In response, the local South Korean media "Korean Economy" reported that Jeju Airlines has absorbed a large amount of travel demand through strategies such as increasing flights and expanding capacity supply on high demand Japanese and Southeast Asian routes. According to statistics from the South Korean Ministry of Land and Infrastructure's aviation information portal system, Jeju Air transported 3.32 million passengers in the third quarter of 2024, with a market share of 14.2%, ranking first among local low-cost airlines.
But currently, as a low-cost domestic airline in South Korea, Jeju Airlines is facing further competitive challenges.
Interface News learned from Korean Air that on December 12th, Korean Air officially completed its acquisition of Asiana Airlines after 4 years, acquiring 131.57 million new shares issued by Asiana Airlines, with a shareholding ratio of 63.88%.
Korean Air announced that it plans to complete the merger with Asiana Airlines in the next two years. After the merger is completed, Korean Air will have a more complete global route network, laying the foundation for competition with other international mega airlines.
During the merger process, Korean Air and Korean Air's subsidiary airlines such as Shin Air, Seoul Airlines, and Busan Airlines will also be restructured into a comprehensive low-cost carrier (LCC). Analysts say that after the comprehensive LCC is launched, Jeju Airlines will fall behind in sales, fleet size, and other aspects, and its market position will be challenged.
In order to compete with the integrated LCC to be integrated, Kim Lipei, the representative director of Jeju Airlines, said that he would accelerate the pace of "group modernization" and officially launch the purchase plan of Boeing 737MAX8 new aircraft, which was put on hold due to the COVID-19, with a total investment of 39.5 billion won. And continue to implement strategies such as flexible route operation, new route development, and cost competitiveness to consolidate the company's position in the low-cost aviation industry in South Korea.