Air Premia
Budget airline of South Korea
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Air Premia, Inc. (Korean: 에어프레미아) is a South Korean airline based in Seoul. It describes itself as a "hybrid airline", providing a higher level of service than low-cost airlines while having lower operating costs than larger, full-service airlines. The airline was founded in 2017 by the former president of Jeju Air, Kim Jong-chul.[2]
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 Air Premia Boeing 787-9 departing from Narita International Airport | |||||||
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| Founded | July 27, 2017 | ||||||
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| Commenced operations | August 11, 2021 | ||||||
| Hubs | Incheon International Airport | ||||||
| Frequent-flyer program | Premia Members | ||||||
| Fleet size | 8 | ||||||
| Destinations | 12 | ||||||
| Headquarters | Seoul, South Korea | ||||||
| Key people | Yoo Myung-sub (CEO) | ||||||
| Founder | Kim Jong-chul | ||||||
| Website | airpremia.com | ||||||
History
Air Premia was established on July 27, 2017, by the ex-president of Jeju Air, Kim Jong-chul.[2] In April 2019, the airline intended to launch in 2020 and lease three Boeing 787-9s from Air Lease Corporation (ALC),[3] but later announced that it had agreed to purchase five.[4] The airline was initially expected to launch with regional routes within Asia, but later intended to operate long-haul routes to Europe and the United States.[5]
In April 2021, Air Premia received its first Boeing 787-9, with plans to operate 10 aircraft by the end of 2024.[6][7] On August 11, 2021, the airline celebrated its inauguration of flights with a domestic service between Seoul and Jeju.[8] Domestic services ended on October 30, 2021, as the airline prepared to transition to exclusively operating international routes.[9] These consisted of a mix of scheduled, chartered, passenger, and dedicated cargo services to destinations in Asia, Europe, and North America.
Destinations
As of April 2025[update], Air Premia operates or has operated to the following destinations:
Interline agreements
Air Premia has interlining agreements with the following airlines:
Fleet
As of June 2025[update], Air Premia operates an all-Boeing 787-9 fleet composed of the following aircraft:[40]
| Aircraft | In service |
Orders | Passengers | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | Y | Total | ||||
| Boeing 787-9 | 9[41] | — | 56 | 253 | 309 | Deliveries through 2025.[42] |
| 56 | 264 | 320 | ||||
| 35 | 291 | 326 | ||||
| 35 | 309 | 344 | To be re-configured to a 326-seat configuration.[43] | |||
| Total | 9 | — | ||||
Fleet development
Air Premia's initial fleet was planned to consist of three Boeing 787-9s, but this was later increased to five.[3][4] In early 2024, Air Premia planned to increase its fleet with an additional four 787-9s to be leased from Korean Air starting later in 2024, as part of addressing competition concerns with Korean Air's proposed merger with Asiana Airlines.[42]
Near the end of 2025, the airline considered adding Airbus widebodies in response to delays in 787 deliveries, in addition to an evaluation of shifting toward narrowbodies to morph to a hub-and-spoke network model.[44]
Service concept
Air Premia operates two cabins and classes of service on its aircraft, consisting of a premium economy cabin (branded as Premia 42) consisting of 56 seats in a 2–3–2 layout, and an economy cabin (branded as Economy 35) consisting of seats in a 3–3–3 layout, with the numbers in the branding reflecting their respective seat pitch in inches.[45] In contrast to low-cost carriers, Air Premia includes various services complimentarily rather than imposing additional fees for them, such as baggage allowances, in-flight catering, and in-flight entertainment. However, the airline still provides some buy on board services, such as for duty-free sales and Wi-Fi access.
