LCC development in South Korea - news kids on the block join the accidental success story

South Korea was Northeast Asia's first major LCC market and today remains the largest and most vibrant. But, its success was more by accident than design as there was no explicit policy to develop LCCs. There's now been a flurry of activity from ambitious new airlines keen to dip their toes in the LCC pond, supported by a new regulatory regime that has granted approval for start ups to launch from July-2018. But with six LCCs already in market, is there room for more?

There are further questions to also answer...

• With LCCs having created success on their own, what formal planning can be done to further grow the LCC sector?
• What are the growth plans of the country's start ups? Which markets are they targeting?
• What is the nature of the regulatory and approval process and ultimately what can government do to support the sustainable growth of the industry?

This will be one of the major topic areas discussed at the forthcoming CAPA- Centre for Aviation LCCs in North Asia event which makes a return to Seoul, South Korea for its 2018 edition on 11-Jun-2018 and 12-Jun-2018.

Understanding aviation markets is CAPA's great strength and passion and this year's agenda includes a variety of topics sure to generate interest. LCC development in South Korea - the accidental success story and The new kids on the block: what's in store for South Korea's start ups? will be the panel discussions of the opening session of the Seoul forum on 11-Jun-2018.

It's hardly a secret that the airline industry is facing myriad challenges, notably in the marketing and distribution areas, as companies with personalised data, and the analytics and artificial intelligence to go with it, become greater threats to the stability of the traditional airline model.

Despite lacking the seat penetration rate of peers in other markets, with about 11% of seats within North Asia operated by LCCs compared with 56% in Southeast Asia and 40% in Western Europe, LCCs are beginning to flourish in this region. The LCC model may now be well understood here, but the operating environment is increasingly complex, competitive and interconnected. Long haul low cost, full service airlines adding LCC subsidiaries, and many other developments are high on the agenda.

This high-level aviation event, hosted at The Grand Hilton Seoul, around 15 minutes from downtown Seoul, is a forum for debate and discussion of strategic issues facing the LCC industry in North Asia.