South Korean National Assembly amends Aviation Business Act to encourage LCC growth

19 August, 2019

South Korea's National Assembly amended Article 8 of the Aviation Business Act to remove a clause on "excessive competition concerns" (Orient Aviation, 16-Aug-2019). The move is designed to encourage start-up carriers and growth in the LCC market, as the now removed clause allowed MOLIT to block the granting of new AOCs to prevent over saturation in the market. As previously reported by CAPA, Aero K's first application for an AOC was blocked by MOLIT in 2017 on the basis of excessive competition. The amendment was proposed by national assembly member Byun Jae-il, who represents the electoral district of Cheongju, where Aero K is based.