236 Flights Delayed at Jeju Airport Because of President Lee? ... MOLIT: “Some Impact”

[Financial News] Allegations have emerged that 236 flights at Jeju International Airport were delayed en masse and 10 flights were diverted because of President Lee Jae-myung. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport also acknowledged that the presidential aircraft’s schedule had some impact.
On the 23rd, according to Kim Seung-soo, a People Power Party lawmaker on the National Assembly’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, President Lee visited Jeju on the 16th to attend the opening ceremony of the National Sports Festival. Of the 512 flights that day, 236 were delayed and 10 were diverted.
Kim criticized the fact that a NOTAM for an airspace control zone was issued over an area with five well-known golf courses and restaurants, then canceled when President Lee made an unscheduled, urgent trip to Seoul. He also pointed out that aircraft operations at Jeju Airport were restricted while they waited for the presidential aircraft to take off. The aircraft was scheduled to take off between 7:50 and 8:30 p.m., but actually departed at 9:22 p.m.
MOLIT cited the fact that the number of flights at the time was higher than Jeju Airport’s daily average of 487 flights last year. The opposition, however, pointed out that there were more delays than on the Hangul Day holiday on the 9th, when more flights operated.
In this regard, Jeong Chae-gyo, head of MOLIT’s Aviation Policy Bureau, said at the previous day’s National Assembly audit of Incheon International Airport Corporation and Korea Airports Corporation, “Multiple factors were at work. (The operation of the presidential aircraft also) had some impact.”
However, the presidential aircraft was reportedly not responsible for all 236 flight delays. According to Jeon Yong-gi, a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker on the National Assembly’s Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, 63 of the 129 flights between noon and 4 p.m. had already been delayed before airspace restrictions related to the presidential aircraft’s operations began.

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