Summary T'Way Air will serve five European cities this year. It has leased Airbus A330-200s from Korean Air for its European network. It also uses the A330-300 to Europe, although this shorter-range variant only flies to one destination with a stop en route.
South Korea's low-cost carrier, T'Way Air, gets little attention outside Asia. The carrier's widebody fleet consists of the Airbus A330-200 and A330-300 . It will have five A330-200s, each leased from Korean Air for its European network, of which two are currently operational.
It has three of its own A330-300s. T'Way Air began flying to Europe on May 16, 2024, when its first Seoul Incheon to Zagreb service took off. Then, as now, it stopped in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, to refuel en route to Croatia.
This resulted from using the shorter-range but higher-capacity A330-300, combined with headwinds and avoiding Russian airspace. It operates non-stop back to Asia. Five European routes On August 8, T'Way Air inaugurated its second European destination: Rome Fiumicino .
It uses the 246-seat A330-200 rather than the 347-seat A330-300, so it operates non-stop in both directions. Three more routes are due to begin soon. T'Way Air's European network has materialized partly because of traffic rights and slots granted to it following the European Commission's approval of Korean Air's takeover of Asiana.
As of August 14 and subject to change, T'Way Air's network is as follows: Seoul Incheon-Barcelona (begins September 11): three times weekly, rising to four this winter; A330-200 Seoul Incheon-Frankfurt (begins October 3): three times weekly, rising to four weekly; A330-200 Seoul Incheon-Rome Fiumicino : three times weekly, rising to four weekly this winter; A330-200 Seoul Incheon-Paris CDG (begins August 28): initially three times weekly, rising to four and then five weekly; A330-200 Seoul Incheon-Zagreb : three times weekly summer seasonal service; A330-300 Want tickets? Find them here! Why Zagreb? It is reasonable to wonder why there are flights from South Korea to Croatia. The country became very popular among South Koreans after it was used as a location for a dating show. Travel agencies promote the country and offer vacation packages, including those combined with neighboring countries.
In 2019, before the pandemic, around 95,000 people flew between South Korea and Croatia. T'Way Air effectively replaced Korean Air, which served Croatia's capital in 2018 and 2019, although its flights appear to have been non-stop to Zagreb. T'Way Air is Zagreb's fourth long-haul operator and its second widebody carrier.
It joins Air Transat from Toronto (A330-200), flydubai from Dubai (737 MAX 8), and Qatar Airways from Doha (A320ceo). Elsewhere in Croatia, Dubrovnik has two seasonal links: United from Newark and flydubai from – well, you guessed it. Will the type be the savior the airline hopes and needs it to be? The fourth airline to Frankfurt According to booking data, Seoul-Frankfurt had 500,000+ point-to-point roundtrip passengers in 2019, making it South Korea's largest European market.
Freight is also substantial. In 2019, it was Seoul's third-biggest long-haul market, behind Los Angeles and New York. No wonder T'Way Air was keen, although it was also because it replaced fellow South Korean carrier Air Premia, which served Frankfurt last year.
When T'Way Air begins flying to Frankfurt, it will be the fourth passenger operator: Asiana : daily A350-900 (A380 occasionally) Lufthansa : three to five weekly 747-400/747-8i Korean Air : three to four weekly 777-300ER (787-9 occasionally) T'Way Air : three and then four weekly A330-200.
