Air Busan

Air Busan (에어부산, IATA code BX) is a South Korean low-cost airline based in Busan, with its head office in Busanjin-gu and its main hub at Gimhae International Airport. It is a subsidiary of Asiana Airlines and is listed on the Korea Exchange. As of October 2026 it is flying under its own name but is due to be merged into Jin Air, Korean Air's low-cost airline, following Korean Air's takeover of Asiana.

History

The company was established on 31 August 2007 as Busan International Airlines and took the name Air Busan in February 2008, the month the city of Busan and Asiana Airlines signed an investment agreement. It received its licence for scheduled air transport in June 2008 and began flying on 27 October 2008, between Busan and Gimpo. The first aircraft were Boeing 737-400s and 737-500s. International flying started with Fukuoka in March 2010, and the first Airbus A321-200 arrived in January 2011. The Boeing 737s were retired in 2016, leaving an all-Airbus fleet.

Network

From Busan, Air Busan serves domestic Korean routes and destinations in Japan, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, South-East Asia, Mongolia, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. It resumed flights from Ulsan in May 2025, with two return flights a day, and in September 2026 announced a Guangzhou route scheduled to start on 2 December 2026.

Merger into Jin Air

A merger of Air Busan with Jin Air was part of Korean Air's post-merger plan for Asiana, approved by the Korea Development Bank in 2021. Jin Air and Air Busan began a domestic codeshare in January 2026.

Jin Air, Air Busan and Air Seoul signed a merger agreement on 21 August 2026, after each airline's board approved it the same day. Jin Air is the surviving company and will take over the other two airlines' assets, liabilities, employees and legal status. The combined airline, referred to as the "integrated Jin Air", is planned to launch on 17 March 2027. At the time of signing, the remaining steps were shareholder votes at extraordinary meetings planned for December 2026, approval under South Korea's aviation law, an inspection by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and approvals from foreign aviation authorities. On 7 October 2026 Jin Air said Vietnam's competition authority had given its final approval; clearance from Korea's Fair Trade Commission and the transport ministry was still to come.

Fleet

A Wikipedia fleet table dated July 2026 lists 21 aircraft, all from the Airbus A320 family: five A320-200s (180 seats), eight A321-200s (195 or 220 seats), five A321neos (232 seats) and three A321LRs (220 seats).