Air Premia carries over 25,000 passengers on Washington D.C. route in 4 months, citing new travel demand

Air Premia said Wednesday it had operated 123 flights on its Incheon–Washington D.C. route since launching the service in April, carrying 25,879 passengers through Aug. 23. Total ridership on the route across all carriers reached 86,083 during the same period, up about 27,000 from 59,018 in the same period last year, before the airline entered the market.

"It is significant that overall demand on the route grew by roughly the same amount as the new seats we added," an Air Premia official said. "This suggests that the new supply did not simply compete for existing passengers with other carriers, but instead drew out additional travel demand and contributed to expanding the route's total market."

The long-haul network and operational capabilities Air Premia has built through its expansion into the Americas have also underpinned demand. The carrier offers wide seating, a comfortable cabin environment and a stable maintenance system tailored to long-distance travel, and in June 2023 it obtained Extended Diversion Time Operations (EDTO)-180 approval, strengthening its long-haul credentials.

Air Premia plans to extend its Americas-focused network into China to improve connectivity between routes. Starting with the planned Ningbo service it is preparing to launch before year's end, the airline aims to expand its China routes and use its own connecting itineraries and interline agreements to capture transit demand between China and the Americas.

The airline already sees transit passengers traveling from major Chinese cities — including Beijing, Shenyang, Nanjing and Tianjin — through Incheon to the Americas via interline arrangements. Air Premia expects that broadening its reach to Ningbo and other key Chinese cities will build on that existing transit demand and generate new passenger traffic.

"The Washington D.C. launch confirmed that expanding long-haul routes can in fact translate into real demand growth," the official said. "We will continue to grow the network connecting the Americas and China, strengthen connectivity between routes, and actively develop new transit demand centered on Incheon Airport."

Meanwhile, Air Premia has also been investing in aviation talent development. Through its first aviation jobs youth internship program of 2026, the airline recently gave 12 young people 20 weeks of hands-on experience in airline operations.