BUSAN -- Busan Metropolitan City and Singapore’s Changi Airport Group on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding to increase the air transport volume between Busan and Singapore and strategically support trade, business and tourism. 

The partnership between Busan and Changi Airport comes as South Korea’s low-cost carriers Eastar Jet, Jeju Air and Singpore’s SilkAir were licensed in February with traffic rights for the Singapore-Busan route, officials said. 

SilkAir has been operating the Singapore-Busan route since May 1, whereas Jeju Air is set to start from July 4.

Currently, 27 air carriers are operating 1,280 routes per week to 42 cities in 13 countries from Busan’s Gimhae International Airport.

The MOU, which involves six parties -- Busan Metropolitan Government, Changi Airport Group, Korea Airports Corp., Eastar Jet, Jeju Air and SilkAir -- will be valid for a year until May 30. 

During the period, the city government, airport operators and air carriers will put together effort to promote and increase leisure, business travel and trade between Singapore and Busan, an official said. 

“The latest partnership was established to strengthen cooperation between industry players, as well as for stable development of the Busan-Singapore route, which is Gimhae Airport’s longest route,” said a Busan City official. 

Son Chang-wan, president of Korea Airports Corp. said the Busan-Singapore route will increase convenience of local travelers and contribute to boosting tourism in Busan and Singapore. 

“The air travel between South Korea and Singapore has been growing steadily over the last year with 1.4 million passengers coming here as of last year. We would also like to wish this partnership will bring more tourist from Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asian countries,” said Lim Ching Kiat, managing director of Airhub Development at Changi Airport Group. 

By Kim Da-sol (ddd@heraldcorp.com)