t'way Air (TW, Daegu) will relocate its base from the capital city to Daegu, the fourth largest city in South Korea, located in the southeast of the country, the city’s municipality announced on July 4, adding that it would sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the issue with the low-cost carrier the following day.
The statement said that it will make the move once Daegu Gyeongbuk Integrated New Airport, a dual-use military-civilian aerodrome - the construction of which is underway - is completed by 2030. The news confirms reports earlier this year that the airline had been considering the change.
T’way Air has pledged to offer many more passenger flights to and from Daegu, focusing mainly on medium- to long-haul routes and adding cargo flights. The carrier revealed in March that it plans to incorporate an unspecified number of A330-300s as it targets a 50-strong fleet by 2027. It currently operates twenty-seven B737-800s and inducted its first three A330 widebodies by the end of May, the ch-aviation fleets module shows.
The airline will also expand its MRO business at the airport, build a logistics hub, and “grow into a regional hub airline through administrative support for route openings and support for securing transportation rights following the relocation,” the announcement said.
According to the ch-aviation capacities module, T’way Air currently operates three of its 17 routes from Daegu, to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi (4x weekly), Da Nang (4x weekly), and Cebu (2x weekly).
“The city of Daegu will do its best to support T’way Air, a local airline that will use the new airport as its hub so it can grow into one of Korea’s major airlines,” said Hong Joon-pyo, mayor of Daegu.
The Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute told Korea’s JoongAng Daily that T’way relocating its headquarters to Daegu is expected to create 830 new local jobs and an additional KRW829 billion won (USD632 million) in economic value for the city per year.
