Eastar Jet
South Korea · Eastar · Active
Airline Identity
History
Eastar Jet was established on 26 October 2007 and began commercial flights as a South Korean low-cost carrier based at Gimpo, joining the Asia-focused U-FLY Alliance of budget carriers in July 2016. The airline was pushed to the brink of collapse by the COVID-19 pandemic: rival Jeju Air signed a deal in March 2020 to acquire a 51.17% stake but abandoned the acquisition in July 2020 citing pandemic-era uncertainty, and Eastar Jet entered court-supervised restructuring, at one point cutting its fleet from 16 aircraft to just 4 and its workforce from around 1,200 to roughly 400.
Current Operations
Eastar Jet has substantially recovered since Korean private equity firm VIG Partners completed its acquisition of the airline in January 2023. The carrier resumed larger-scale flying in 2023 and has been rebuilding its all-Boeing 737 fleet (737-800s and 737 MAX 8s), reaching around 15 aircraft during 2024 with plans to grow to about 27 by 2026. Passenger volumes have recovered to roughly 70-75% of pre-pandemic (2019) levels, with about 2.2 million domestic and 1.48 million international passengers carried between January and October 2024. The airline remains a member of the U-FLY Alliance, a grouping of Asian low-cost carriers (not one of the three major global alliances), and continues operating under VIG Partners ownership as of 2026.
Last verified 2026-09-02· Source: airline public disclosures, company press releases & aviation-industry reporting.