Jin Air Co., one of South Korea's biggest budget carriers, on Friday opened a new route to Jeju Island to capitalize on growing low-cost travel demand during the peak summer season.

The low-cost carrier has allocated a 189-seat B737-800 jet to serve the Gwangju-Jeju route two times a day, the airline said in a statement. 

It currently operates three flights between the resort island and three domestic destinations -- Gimpo near Seoul, the southern port city of Busan and Cheongju in North Chungcheong Province.

On top of the local routes, Jin Air serves 33 foreign destinations with a fleet of 22 planes composed of four B777-200s and 18 B737-800s.

As of May 29, the number of passengers served by the budget carrier unit of Korean Air Lines Co. exceeded 30 million nearly nine years after it started operating.

Jin Air, launched in July 2008, became the second low-cost carrier to reach the milestone after Jeju Air Co., which reported the achievement in January 2016. (Yonhap)