Jeju Air Co., South Korea's biggest low-cost carrier, said Monday it will adopt a cargo plane for the first time among local LCCs to ride out the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

Jeju Air plans to begin operating a cargo plane in the first half of this year to offset a sharply declined passenger travel demand amid the pandemic, the company said in a statement.

Korean Air Lines Co. and Asiana Airlines Inc., the country's two biggest and full-service carriers, have focused on winning cargo deals to offset lower travel demand in the past two years.

To preemptively respond to pent-up travel demand amid rising vaccinations, Jeju Air also plans to add 50 chartered B737-8 MAX passenger jets to its fleet between 2023 and 2027.

Jeju Air currently has 39 chartered B737-800NG passenger jets and offers flights on 10 domestic routes and one flight a week on six international routes to Bangkok, Guam, Saipan, Harbin, Weihai and Tokyo. (Yonhap)