Air Busan Co., a budget carrier unit of Asiana Airlines Inc., said Tuesday it will open five new international routes next month as the easing of travel restrictions unleashes pent-up demand.

On Jan. 23, Air Busan began to offer one flight per week on the Saipan route following a travel bubble agreement with Saipan, a quarantine-free travel partnership between two or more cities or countries with similar levels of COVID-19 cases.

Air Busan added one more flight on the Busan-Saipan route from March 16 in addition to the Busan-Qingdao route and five domestic routes.

Starting in May, Air Busan will open the routes from Incheon to Osaka, Tokyo, Guam, Nha Trang of Vietnam, and Kota Kinabalu of Malaysia upon approval from the transport ministry, the company said in a statement.

The Busan-Guam route is currently suspended due to low demand.

The carrier operated 25 international routes with 25 A321 chartered planes before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the airline industry two years ago. (Yonhap)