By Jungdo Kim, Director, ARC Center
The Persistent Shortage of Airline Tickets
The shortage of airline tickets to and from Jeju has severely restricted residents’ ability to travel to the mainland, causing massive inconvenience. The primary cause is widely cited as the reallocation of flight slots to low-cost carriers (LCCs) during the merger of Korean Air and Asiana Airlines. This shift led to the replacement of medium-to-large aircraft with smaller ones, physically reducing the absolute number of available seats. Compounded by the burden of high fuel costs, airlines have even struggled to fulfill their existing flight schedules, leading to an overall decline in flight availability.
While airlines are promising to increase flights and discussions are underway to pre-allocate a certain number of seats to secure residents’ mobility rights, obtaining a ticket remains a daunting task. In truth, the struggle to secure flights is nothing new. In 2015, plans to establish a cooperative airline owned by residents were pushed forward before ultimately collapsing. Since then, there have been persistent demands for airlines to allocate specific quotas for residents or deploy larger aircraft.
However, whenever external factors like the COVID-19 pandemic cause a temporary drop in tourists—reducing the immediate need for seat capacity—these discussions quickly vanish beneath the surface. The real problem is that this cycle repeats endlessly. To fully guarantee the mobility rights of Jeju residents, it is essential to secure a means of transportation that can be utilized without restriction at any time, immune to external variables.
Passenger Ships: The Alternative to Air Travel
Air travel is not the only way to reach the mainland from Jeju; maritime passenger transport is also a vital option. Yet, there are clear reasons why residents are reluctant to use it. Not only are daily sailings scarce, but the journey to mainland ports takes excessively long. Even upon arrival, few ports offer seamless connections to express buses or the KTX (high-speed train). Consequently, making a day trip to the mainland via ferry is virtually impossible.
Meanwhile, maritime passenger infrastructure continues to shrink. Operations ceased for the Jeju-Busan route in December 2022, the Jeju-Incheon route in May 2023, and the Jeju-Yeosu route in December 2024. Essentially, one major route has disappeared every year since 2022. The remaining passenger routes are limited to ports like Mokpo, Wando, Jindo, and Goheung (Nokdong). Among these, Mokpo is effectively the only hub port that allows for smooth travel to other regions via KTX connections.
The issue is that even using Mokpo as a hub involves excessively long travel times. The sea voyage alone takes about four and a half hours, and because ships to Mokpo depart in the afternoon, it is difficult to handle business without scheduling ample extra time. An itinerary that could be completed in a single day by air now requires at least a one-night, if not two-night, stay by sea.
Are There Solutions to Improve Maritime Transportation?
Despite the annual severing of major sea routes and the regression of maritime transport, the Jeju provincial government has failed to provide meaningful countermeasures. Instead, it has been preoccupied with attracting cruise ships connecting China and Gangjeong Port, or focusing solely on large car ferries and cargo ships. Amid this, farcical situations have unfolded, such as the cancellation of a new Qingdao route, resulting in massive economic losses.
Perhaps because the provincial administration was solely fixated on pushing for the Second Airport, practical maritime transportation for everyday residents was pushed to the back burner. However, for Jeju—an island with unique geographical characteristics—showing such indifference to public maritime transit is the epitome of irresponsibility. It was the administration’s rightful duty to devise multifaceted plans to revitalize maritime passenger transport and ensure the mobility rights of its residents.
So, what needs to be done immediately? The solution lies in resolving the primary inconveniences residents face when using ferries. This can be summarized into three key tasks: First, restoring routes to mainland hub ports with excellent KTX accessibility. Second, adjusting sailing schedules and frequencies. Third, introducing dedicated high-speed passenger ferries.
First, shipping companies must be reintroduced to routes connected to express bus or KTX networks. Previously operated ports like Yeosu Expo and Busan offer excellent public transit connectivity. Yeosu Expo Port, in particular, served as a fantastic alternative for mainland travel due to its relatively short distance. Only by restoring these hub routes can ferries gain the competitiveness to replace air travel.
Admittedly, there is a painful premise: companies previously operating these routes abandoned them due to worsening profitability. However, considering that maritime transit is a universal public service for residents, the central and provincial governments should attract operators even if it means implementing a loss-compensation system to cover reasonable deficits. If finding private operators proves too difficult, Jeju Province could certainly adopt a public management system and introduce passenger ships directly.
Next is the comprehensive adjustment of sailing times and frequencies. If residents are to travel to the mainland for business, early morning departures are essential. If a standard car ferry takes 5 hours, it must depart by at least 6:00 AM to allow for morning mobility on the mainland. Furthermore, the number of daily sailings must increase from the current single trip to a minimum of two. If expanding all routes is unfeasible, the province should consider a strategy of designating one specific port with easy KTX access as a “Special Passenger Route” and concentrating flight frequencies there as an alternative to air travel.
Finally, the introduction of high-speed ferries. The most glaring limitation of ships compared to planes is, ultimately, travel time. A flight from Jeju to Yeosu takes about 40 minutes, whereas a car ferry from Jeju Port to Yeosu Expo Port takes 5.5 hours. Very few residents will choose a ferry that takes eight times as long. Therefore, this travel time must be cut by more than half. If ships can reach Mokpo or Yeosu in the 2-hour range, they can become a highly viable complementary option to air travel.
High-Speed Ferries Can Secure Mobility Rights
Introducing a high-speed ferry capable of reaching Mokpo or Yeosu in the 2-hour range is not just a pipe dream. Such vessels are already operating in South Korea. The ‘Eldorado Express,’ built by the Incat shipyard in Australia and deployed on the Pohang-Ulleungdo route, is a prime example. With an overwhelming top speed of 95 km/h (50.2 knots), it crosses the East Sea in just 2 hours and 50 minutes, and its capacity to carry over 900 passengers has been thoroughly proven.
If a comparable high-speed ferry were introduced in Jeju, it could reach Mokpo in about 2 hours and 20 minutes, and Yeosu in 2 hours and 40 minutes. Departing between 6:00 and 7:00 AM would easily allow passengers to arrive at Seoul Station by early afternoon via KTX transfers. While it would still take slightly longer than flying, it would serve as an excellent breakthrough in the current climate where people are left stranded, unable to buy plane tickets. Conversely, it would also offer a highly attractive option for visitors traveling to Jeju from other regions.
Of course, there are hurdles to overcome. First, ticket prices must be similar to or cheaper than airfare to ensure acceptance among residents. Second, to alleviate the uncertainty of initial profitability, the government must be willing to provide bold operational subsidies or implement a fully public management system. However, the budget required for this is by no means excessive.
Compared to forcing the construction of the Second Airport or drilling an undersea tunnel—projects that trigger severe environmental destruction, extreme social conflict, and consume tens of trillions of won in taxpayer money—introducing high-speed ferries is vastly more rational. It poses no risk of massive environmental damage or community strife and requires no astronomical civil engineering costs. Furthermore, considering the global shipping industry’s recent push toward electric vessels, this initiative could easily be pitched as a testbed for future maritime tech or a national R&D pilot project to secure funding.
As the climate crisis accelerates, relying solely on expanding flights to guarantee mobility is not the right solution. Even if high-speed ferries consume more fuel than traditional car ferries, we must not overlook the fact that they can transport over 900 passengers at once—the equivalent of 5 to 6 medium-sized passenger planes. By maintaining high occupancy rates as mass transit and drastically dispersing aviation demand, this approach can significantly lower per capita carbon emissions, leading to anticipated greenhouse gas reductions. Coupled with a future transition to low-carbon or electric ships, maritime passenger transport can evolve beyond a mere supplement to air travel into a genuine alternative for climate crisis mitigation.
Despite Jeju being an island surrounded by the sea on all four sides, discussions on the sustainable use of its oceans have always been pushed to the margins. As a result, marine conservation and biodiversity policies have failed to make meaningful progress. By resolving the tangible issue of maritime mobility rights, we must turn our eyes back to Jeju’s seas. It is time to boldly resolve the chronic mobility constraints caused by decades of blind reliance on airplanes. The answer lies in the sea.
This article was originally published in the 112th issue of Weekly Another Jeju by the Another Jeju Lab.