First tourists arrive in Phuket on South Korea’s Jin Air airlines

Phuket welcomed the first flight of South Korean tourists from Jin Air airlines since Covid-19 restrictions eased. Phuket International Airport staff greeted the 179 passengers as they arrived at the international terminal. They had flown directly from Seoul to Phuket.

This news comes after both South Korea, and Thailand, have eased several of their Covid restrictions. On July 1, Thailand got rid of its notorious ‘Thailand Pass‘ easing restrictions on foreign tourists wanting to travel to the Kingdom. Meanwhile, South Korea announced in May that it would add 230 international flights in June, to meet a jump in travel demands.

This was expected to bump up South Korea’s weekly number of international flights to 762 from 532, according to South Korea’s interior minister.

Now that Covid is making a comeback, it’s unknown whether South Korea will tighten up on travel again. Earlier this month, South Korea’s number of infections jumped above 40,000 for the first time in two months. The country’s PM said that South Korea had no plans to bring back restrictions. PM Han Duck-soo added, however, that he would not rule restrictions out if there is a “critical change” in the Covid situation.

Despite the world seemingly getting back to normal, the World Health Organisation is warning that the pandemic is far from finished.

SOURCE: The Phuket Express | Reuters