Jeju Air

If you spot in Seoul, Busan or on Jeju Island, you cannot get around Jeju Air. The orange 737s are part of everyday life there, like Ryanair or Eurowings in Europe. It is worth a second look, though: the airline is in the middle of a switch between two 737 generations, flies two freighters on the side and has a history that began with turboprops on a vacation island. Here you learn how to recognize Jeju Air with confidence and what is behind the brand.

Jeju Air at a glance

Jeju Air is South Korea’s largest low-cost airline and is headquartered in Jeju City on the island of the same name off the country’s south coast. It was founded in January 2005 as a joint project of the Aekyung Group, a Korean conglomerate, and Jeju Province. The island is one of Korea’s most popular vacation destinations, and the route between Jeju and Seoul Gimpo is among the busiest domestic routes in the world. Jeju Air launched its first scheduled flight on exactly this route in June 2006.

Today the largest shareholder is AK Holdings, the holding company of the Aekyung Group. In 2015 Jeju Air went public – as the first Korean low-cost airline ever. That made it a trailblazer for a whole series of budget carriers that have been shaking up the Korean market since, including Jin Air, t’way Air and Air Busan.

Unlike the big network airlines Korean Air and Asiana Airlines, Jeju Air does not fly longhaul. The network concentrates on domestic flights and on destinations that a 737 can comfortably reach: Japan, China, Southeast Asia and some islands in the western Pacific.

Codes and callsign

• IATA code 7C: appears in the flight number, on departure boards and tickets.
• ICAO code JJA: appears in the air traffic control flight plan and on many flight trackers.
• Callsign JEJU AIR: this is how the crew identifies itself on the radio.

An IATA code starting with a digit is not a special case: because two-letter codes are scarce, IATA has long assigned combinations of a digit and a letter as well. If you only look at the flight number at the spot, you should therefore not mistake 7C for a typo.

History: from the Q400 to an all-737 fleet

At the beginning, Jeju Air looked quite different from today. The first aircraft were Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 turboprops, which the airline used from 2006 to shuttle between Jeju and the mainland. A good fit for an island airline – but in the long run not the right tool for the leap abroad.

From 2008, the first 737-800 jets from Boeing joined the fleet. In 2010 the airline said goodbye to the Q400 with a last flight and has relied exclusively on the 737 ever since. This decision shapes the business model to this day: one type, one training program for crews and maintenance, simple planning.

With the jet fleet, the international network grew quickly. Japan became the most important foreign market, followed by China and Southeast Asia. In 2016, Jeju Air was among the founders of the Value Alliance, an association of Asian low-cost carriers that included Cebu Pacific, Scoot and Nok Air, among others. The alliance is no longer active; Jeju Air is not a member of Star Alliance, oneworld or SkyTeam.

The COVID-19 pandemic hit the airline hard because the business depends heavily on international traffic. In the years after, Jeju Air raised fresh capital several times and at the same time set the course for the next fleet generation.

The fleet: only Boeing 737s

Jeju Air is one of those airlines where you can save yourself the look at the manufacturer: it is always a Boeing 737. In fall 2026 the fleet comprises about 45 aircraft. The exact split keeps shifting because new 737-8s arrive and older 737-800s leave the fleet.

Type	Role	Type code	Spotter tip
Boeing 737-800	Backbone of the fleet	B738	Largest part of the fleet, some aircraft taken over used
Boeing 737-8 (737 MAX 8)	Successor to the 737-800	B38M	Growing steadily, gradually replacing the older jets
Boeing 737-800BCF	Freighter	B738	Two converted passenger jets without windows

The Boeing 737-800 has been the workhorse since 2008. Over the years, Jeju Air has also taken over many used 737-800s, including former Ryanair aircraft. For registration collectors that means: some Jeju Air jets had a completely different life before – a look at the registration’s history is worthwhile. You can find more on how such changes work in the article on re-registrations.

In 2018, Jeju Air agreed to buy 40 examples of the Boeing 737-8 from the MAX family, supplemented by options. Deliveries are ongoing, and with every new aircraft the balance in the fleet shifts. The 737-8 burns noticeably less fuel per seat and is quieter – two central arguments for a low-cost airline.

A special feature is the two freighters of the type 737-800BCF. These are former passenger aircraft that Boeing converted into freighters. They have no cabin windows and a large cargo door on the left side at the front. For spotters they are the rarest Jeju Air subjects.

737-800 or 737-8? How to tell them apart

Both generations wear the same color scheme and are almost the same length. Still, there are a few reliable features. A detailed comparison of all variants is in the guide telling the Boeing 737 Original, Classic, NG and MAX apart.

The engines are the surest clue: you can see the serrated trailing edges of the cowlings even from a distance, especially in side-on shots on approach. If you are unsure, check the type code on the tracker against your photo.

How to recognize Jeju Air

The brand color is orange. The “JEJUair” titles on a white fuselage are easy to read even from afar, and the company color dominates the tail as well. Over the years Jeju Air has revised the design, so you may come across slightly different variants in older photos and occasionally in service. The basic idea stays the same: lots of white, bold orange.

At the rear you find the South Korean registration with the prefix HL, followed by four digits. Because all Korean airlines use this prefix, it reveals the country but not the airline. Here, the livery and the ICAO code help.

Flight 2216: the Muan accident

On December 29, 2024, a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 crashed on landing at Muan Airport in southwestern Korea. The aircraft, registered HL8088, was arriving from Bangkok. After warnings about birds near the airport, the crew reported a bird strike, aborted the first approach and attempted a landing from the opposite direction. The landing gear was not extended. The aircraft touched down on its belly, slid beyond the end of the runway and hit an earth mound with a concrete structure that held the localizer antenna. 179 of the 181 people on board died; only two flight attendants in the separated tail section survived. It is the deadliest aviation accident on South Korean soil.

The investigation is led by South Korea’s accident investigation authority ARAIB, supported by the US NTSB and Boeing, among others. Investigators found traces of migratory birds in both engines. The release of investigation findings was delayed several times, at the end of 2025 parliament additionally decided on an independent investigation, and details of events on board remain disputed. The public debate also focused heavily on the question of why the concrete structure at the end of the runway was not built from a yielding material.

The accident had noticeable consequences for Jeju Air: in winter 2024/25 the airline thinned out its schedule by about 10 to 15 percent to gain more time for maintenance, and the authorities ordered special inspections of Korean airlines’ 737-800 fleets. More background on bird strikes is in the article bird strikes explained.

Spotting Jeju Air

In South Korea, Jeju Air is everywhere at its bases. At the international hub Seoul Incheon, most international flights depart; at Seoul Gimpo, the airport close to the city, domestic traffic dominates – above all the shuttle route to Jeju. On the island itself and at Busan Gimhae, Jeju Air is also among the most frequent airlines. If you want to photograph the orange jets in series, Gimpo and Jeju are the right places, because many rotations follow each other closely there.

Outside Korea, Japan is the most important market. Jeju Air serves numerous Japanese cities, including Tokyo Narita, Osaka Kansai, Fukuoka and Sapporo. On a spotting trip to Japan, the chances are therefore good – for example at Sakura no Yama in Narita. You can find tips for the capital in the article plane spotting in Tokyo. In Southeast Asia you meet Jeju Air in Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines, among other places, for example at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport.

In Europe, by contrast, you do not see Jeju Air: the range of the 737 is not enough for that, and the airline has no longhaul aircraft in its fleet.

The freighters and the new 737-8s in particular do not show up in a fixed pattern. A look at the tracker before the trip helps here – or an alert for the registration you are after. If you collect registrations systematically, the article collecting registrations offers ideas for your own list.

Common mix-ups

• Mistaking 7C for a typo – codes made of a digit and a letter are perfectly normal at IATA.
• Assuming every Korean 737 is Jeju Air – Jin Air, t’way Air and other budget carriers also fly 737s with HL registrations. The color decides.
• Logging the freighter as a passenger jet – you recognize the 737-800BCF by its missing windows.
• Using winglets as the only clue – the engines and the type code B38M are the surer indicators of the 737-8.
• Assuming Jeju Air is in a big alliance – the airline was only in the now inactive Value Alliance.

Conclusion

Jeju Air is the pioneer among Korea’s budget carriers: it started with turboprops on a vacation island and today flies an all-737 fleet between Seoul, Japan and Southeast Asia. For spotters the airline is easy to recognize, but with the generation change to the 737-8 and the two freighters it offers enough detail to look more closely. The Muan accident is part of the airline’s recent history and deserves respectful treatment.