Jeju Air Co., South Korea's No. 1 budget airliner, is preparing for its debut on the Seoul bourse early next year to further expand its business on the back of rising demand for low-cost carriers, company officials and industry sources said Monday. 

Jeju Air, based on the country's southern resort island of Jeju, was established in 2006 by Aekyung Group, a South Korean conglomerate whose businesses range from daily necessities and chemicals to department stores. 

The carrier expanded its destinations at home and abroad over the past five years as more Koreans opt for low-cost airlines to save money, and its home base has emerged as a hot attraction for tourists from China and Southeast Asia. 

The group plans to carry out the listing of its low-cost carrier unit by floating new shares and selling part of existing shares held by the budget carrier's main shareholders, industry sources said. 

AK Holdings Inc., the group's holding firm, and Aekyung Co., the group's retail subsidiary, hold an 86.23 percent stake in the carrier. 

Seoul-based Woori Investment and Securities will lead the sales of shares slated for as early as March 2015, they said, estimating the initial public offering (IPO) would raise over 200 billion won (US$178.9 million). 

Jeju Air closed at 29,500 won in the over-the-counter market on Friday, more than double its initial price set in August. 

Once listed, it will be the nation's first budget airline to hit the nation's main bourse, setting an example for its smaller rivals eyeing IPOs to expand their market shares. 

"Jeju Air will enter a full-fledged growth trajectory with the market listing next year," an Aekyung official said. "Aekyung will develop Jeju Air as the group's new growth driver, aiming to raise 1 trillion won in sales in 2018."

It is a big jump for the Korean airline that returned to profitability in five years after establishment, logging a net 16.8 billion won in 2011, 5.3 billion won in 2012 and 19.4 billion won in 2013. The company posted 16.9 billion won in net profit in the first nine months of this year.

Jeju Airline has steadily taken over the market to account for 16.5 percent of the nation's passenger traffic in the third quarter, closing gaps between full-service airlines such as Korea Airlines Co. and Asiana Airlines Inc. (Yonhap)