Flight Information
Date: October 23, 2017
Flight No.: 7C504
Route: Jeju International to Busan Gimhae
Airline: Jeju Air
Type: Boeing 737-800
Registration: HL8019
Since I flew Korean Air from Seoul to Jeju, I was looking to try a different airline on the next flight of my Korean trip, a flight to Busan.
Quite a few airlines operate on the Jeju-Busan route, but in the end, I didn’t have much choice. When searching for a flight that arrived in Busan in time for my connecting flight to Tokyo and a flight that wasn’t sold out, I found exactly one match.
A Jeju Air flight departing at 10:45AM and arriving at 11:45AM.
Checking-in at Jeju Airport
I left my accommodation – Hotel Shalom – at 7:30AM, and after waiting for a bus for about 25 minutes and a short bus ride, I arrived at the airport shortly after 8AM.
At the airport, I went straight to Jeju Air’s check-in area where I got a boarding pass for my flight in no time. And then, I went to Asiana’s lounge which belongs to the Priority Pass network and offers great views of the airport.
Since Jeju has a visa regime different from mainland Korea, even passengers on domestic flights have to go through immigration check. In spite of that, less than ten minutes after leaving the lounge – at 9:50AM – I was airside.
Airside, I spent some more time photographing aircraft in an area with large windows right past the security check. I left the “panorama area” about 25 minutes before my scheduled departure time, and headed to gate 1A where my flight was departing from.
Boarding Jeju Air Flight 504 from Jeju to Busan
Boarding started just a minute or two after I got to the gate area – at 10:33AM – and was a bit of a mess.
Nonetheless, after finding my way through a crowd unrelated to the flight to Busan, I got my boarding pass scanned and took the escalator down to the apron level where a bus was already waiting to take us to the aircraft.
Within a few minutes, the bus got on its way and brought us to HL8019 – one of Jeju Air’s 30 aircraft, all of which are 737-800s.
Once onboard, I headed down the aisle and settled in my window seat, 9A.
Some minutes later, another busload of passengers came. And, by the time all of those passengers settled, there were no (or close to no) unoccupied seats.
Departing Jeju Onboard a Jeju Air 737-800
With everyone onboard, the flight’s cabin crew armed the doors at 10:51AM, and just a minute later we were pushed back.
Around the same time, a welcome announcement was made, followed by a manual safety demonstration. During the announcement, a (very short) flight time of 35 minutes was mentioned.
At 10:57AM, we started taxiing towards the active runway.
In just a couple of minutes, we reached the end of runway 07 where we had to hold before lining up in order to let a fellow Jeju Air land.
Then, at 11:12AM, we took off.
Jeju Air Domestic In-Flight Service
The seatbelt signs were switched off just four minutes after take-off, and so the crew could begin their in-flight service.
With Jeju Air being a low-cost airline, there was no free drink or meal, but there was a buy on board menu. Since it was a short flight, I didn’t buy anything, but below is the menu for reference.
At 11:22AM, the flight deck crew gave a brief overview of the flight, mentioning our cruising altitude of 21,000 feet, speed of 530 miles per hour, and estimated arrival time of 11:45AM.
Landing at Busan Gimhae Airport
Less than five minutes after the captain was done speaking, we started our descend.
The seatbelt sign was switched back on at 11:33AM – just as some small islands started appearing below us.
Another ten minutes or so later, we reached the mainland coast, and overflew southern part of Busan city.
We landed on Busan Gimhae airport’s runway 36L at 11:46AM.
And, we reached our parking spot less than ten minutes later at 11:54AM bringing the short and uneventful flight to an end.
After disembarking, I made my way to the airport’s international terminal to catch a flight to Tokyo Narita – the last flight of the trip. But, more on that in the next instalment.
