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The Ministry of Construction and Transportation agreed to increase flights between Incheon and Doha, Qatar from four to seven times a week in bilateral aviation talks on Tuesday. The agreement allows Qatar Airways to serve the route daily.
Korea is also considering a request from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to increase flights between Incheon and Dubai from the current eight to 14 times a week. If that request is agreed to at talks slated for Thursday and Friday, the number of flights bound for the Middle East will increase significantly.
Domestic airlines including Korean Air and Asiana Airlines are opposed to the added flights, claiming they will erode demand for their services. Currently Korean Air flies thrice weekly between Incheon and Dubai and Asiana serves the route through a code share with Qatar Airways.
At present, transit passengers mainly use the Incheon-Doha and Incheon-Dubai routes to travel on to European destinations. Qatar and UAE want to add flights from Seoul to make their airports hubs for Asian passengers.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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