Seoul: The seating proportion of low-cost carriers (LCCs) in South Korea's aviation market has far surpassed the average of the Asia-Pacific region, reflecting the popularity of budget airlines in the country.

According to Yonhap News Agency, an industry report by aviation market tracker Center for Aviation revealed that LCCs accounted for 45.7 percent of systemwide seats in South Korea, significantly higher than the average 32.1 percent for the Asia-Pacific region as of the second week of January.

The report highlighted that the LCC seat proportion for international flights from South Korea reached 41.1 percent in 2024, a substantial increase from 15.4 percent in 2015 and 36.5 percent in 2019. For domestic flights, LCCs represented 58.5 percent of seats in 2024, compared with 54.3 percent in 2019.

The report also pointed out that Jeju Air, the country's largest LCC, accounted for 11.1 percent of overall systemwide seats, ranking third after the country's two full-service flag carriers, Korean Air and Asiana Airlines. Jeju Air recently reduced its flight capacity following a crash of one of its B737-800 aircraft on December 29, which claimed 179 lives. Prior to the incident, Jeju Air held a slightly higher seat share of 12.4 percent.