South Korea's low-cost carrier JINAir recently held a ceremony at Macau International Airport to inaugurate its new Seoul to Macau route.

JINAir is the second budget carrier to operate flights to Macau, following Indonesia's Mandala Airlines, which launched a flight to the city in July 2010.

Li Suning, executive director of Macau International Airport Company Limited, said at the ceremony that South Korea has become a major tourist source for the city, thanks to the country's economic recovery.

According to figures released by Macau Government Tourist Office, in the first nine months of this year, tourist arrivals to Macau rose 17% year on year to 18.59 million and arrivals from South Korea rose by 62% from a year ago to 240,000.

The new flight service is operated using Boeing 737-800 aircraft configured with 183-economy seats.