As of 1 pm (South Korean time), over 33,000 flight reservations had been cancelled by domestic passengers. Another 34,000 tickets across international routes were also cancelled, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap.
The cancellations began pouring in after 9 am on Sunday, when its aircraft 7C2216, carrying 181 passengers, crashed at Muan International Airport in the southwest county of Muan.
Local travel agencies also reported a surge in tour package cancellations, with some operators witnessing double their usual cancellation rates. Many of them have ceased their television and online advertisements, and promotional initiatives in the ongoing holiday season ahead of the New Year.
“We had about 40 inquiries regarding travel cancellations on Sunday alone. We saw about double the usual amount of cancellations and a 50% decrease in bookings,” said a travel agent, the news agency reported.
Several customers were also inquiring about whether their flights were on the same Boeing model involved in the disaster and sought to cancel tickets on confirmation of the flight model.
According to industry sources, the travel agency is constantly monitoring the situation and anticipates that the impact will persist as public concern about aviation safety grows.
In another incident, a Jeju Air flight that took off in Seoul on Monday returned to the airport due to the same landing gear problem discovered in a fatal crash involving a different aircraft of the same model the day before, the company said. As per local media, around 21 passengers chose not to board a replacement aircraft due to safety concerns.
Jeju Air Flight 7C101 encountered a problem with its landing gear soon after taking off from Gimpo International Airport for Jeju at 6:37 a.m. The airline informed the passengers of the mechanical fault and then returned the flight to Gimpo at 7:25 a.m.
Meanwhile, Jeju Air’s stock dropped up to 15% on Monday and shares of its biggest shareholder, AK Holdings Inc., fell by over 12%. Additionally, shares of several domestic travel agencies declined by more than 5%.
