South Korea and China have agreed to expand weekly flight rights for the first time since 2018, signaling warming ties, Seoul’s transport ministry said Thursday. The deal increases passenger flights by 56 to 664 weekly and cargo flights by 14 to 68, easing connections from Korean regional airports to 10 Chinese cities. Q1 passenger traffic between the two countries reached 4.39 million, exceeding pre-pandemic levels. The new rights will be allocated to Korean airlines in the second half of the year.

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