Seoul to Jeju in 2026: Flights From Gimpo and Busan, the Ferry Option and Jeju Airport

Seoul to Jeju is a one-hour flight, and for almost everyone that’s the whole answer. Gimpo to Jeju is the busiest air route in the world, with more than a hundred departures a day and fares from about 50,000 won one way. The other way to get there, a KTX to Mokpo and four and a half hours on a ferry, costs more and takes all day, but it works if you’re bringing a car or you simply like boats. Here’s what each option costs in 2026, why every domestic ticket now carries a fuel surcharge of about 20,000 won, how to get there from Busan (there’s no ferry), and how to get from Jeju Airport to your hotel.

How to get to Jeju Island: the options compared

Seoul to Jeju flights from Gimpo

Almost every Seoul to Jeju flight leaves from Gimpo, Seoul’s domestic airport in the west of the city, on subway Lines 5 and 9, the AREX airport line and the Gimpo Goldline. The flight takes about an hour and ten minutes. Nine airlines fly it: Korean Air, Asiana, Jeju Air, Jin Air, T’way (which now flies as Trinity Airways), Air Busan, Air Seoul, Eastar Jet and Parata Air. Jeju Air alone has run up to 26 round trips a day since March 2026.

OAG counted 14.4 million seats on Gimpo to Jeju in 2025, more than on any other air route on earth, and it was still number one in August 2026. That doesn’t mean seats are always easy to get. There were about 11 fewer flights a day in June 2026 than a year earlier, and Friday evenings, Sunday afternoons and school holidays fill up weeks ahead.

What a Seoul to Jeju flight costs in 2026

Korean Air advertises one-way fares from 49,900 won for October 2026 and up to 179,900 won on peak dates, with taxes and fuel surcharge included. The low-cost airlines are often a little cheaper and sometimes much cheaper on sale, but check the baggage rules before you compare. Prices swing with the day of the week far more than with how early you book.

Part of every fare is the domestic fuel surcharge, which Korean airlines reset each month according to the date you buy the ticket, not the date you fly. It jumped from 7,700 won in April 2026 to 35,200 won in June as oil prices climbed, and stands at 20,900 won for tickets issued in October (22,000 on Jin Air). If you see a Jeju fare that looks oddly high, that’s usually why.

The airlines themselves are being reshuffled. Asiana is due to merge into Korean Air on 17 December 2026, and Jin Air, Air Busan and Air Seoul are due to become a single airline under the Jin Air name on 17 March 2027. If you’ve booked one of them for next spring, watch your inbox for schedule changes.

Flying to Jeju straight from Incheon

Incheon is Korea’s international airport, and it has almost no domestic flights. Jeju Air brought back an Incheon to Jeju route in May 2026, the first since 2016, but only a few times a week. Most travelers landing from abroad go to Gimpo instead: the all-stop AREX train gets there in a little over half an hour and costs less than the ride on to Seoul Station. Leave at least three hours between landing at Incheon and a Gimpo departure, because immigration queues can be long. Our Incheon Airport to Seoul guide has the AREX details.

Busan to Jeju: fly, because there’s no ferry

Busan to Jeju is a flight of about an hour from Gimhae Airport, with Jeju Air, Jin Air, Air Busan and Korean Air. Korean Air quotes one-way fares from 45,900 won for October 2026. Gimhae is on the Busan-Gimhae Light Rail, which connects with subway Line 2 at Sasang and Line 3 at Daejeo.

Many guides still mention a Busan to Jeju ferry, but the overnight passenger boat stopped at the end of 2022, and we found no sign of it coming back. To reach Jeju by sea from Busan, you’d first travel west to Mokpo, Wando or Goheung, which turns a one-hour trip into a long day. From Busan, take the plane.

Seoul to Jeju by train and ferry

There’s no direct Seoul to Jeju ferry. The overnight boat from Incheon has been suspended since 2023, so going by sea means a train or bus to a southern port first. The easiest is Mokpo: KTX trains from Yongsan Station take about 2 h 10 to 2 h 30, with around 25 trains a day. The standard fare was about 48,000 won before the September 2026 KTX fare cut and should now be closer to 43,000; check Korail+ for your date. The ferry terminal is a short taxi ride from Mokpo Station.

Seaworld Express runs the Mokpo to Jeju crossing with the Queen Jenuvia, the Queen Jenuvia II and the new Queen Mary, which joined in April 2026. The crossing takes about 4 h 15 to 4 h 30. A place in an economy room, where you sleep on a heated floor, costs 32,300 won on weekdays and 35,400 at weekends; rooms with beds start at about 62,000. Sailings leave Mokpo in the early hours and in the morning, but the timetable rotates between ships, so check seaferry.co.kr, which has an English booking page. Hanil Express also sails from Wando, a port with no railway, in about 2 h 40 on the Gold Stella and the Silver Cloud.

Is it worth it? Only if you have a reason. Train plus ferry costs more than most flights and takes the whole day. People ship cars this way, and some simply enjoy arriving by sea, but if you just want to get to Jeju, fly.

Domestic flight rules: ID, bags and power banks

Foreigners need their original passport at check-in and at security, even on a domestic flight. Korean Air closes check-in 30 minutes before departure; we’d get to Gimpo an hour before, more on a holiday weekend. Low-cost airlines usually include 15 kg of checked baggage on domestic flights and allow about 10 kg in the cabin (7 kg on Eastar Jet).

Power banks are where people get caught out. Since 20 April 2026, Korean rules allow two per passenger, of 160 Wh or less, and you can’t use them or charge them during the flight. Since January, Korean airlines also don’t let you put them in the overhead bin, so keep yours in a bag at your feet.

When Jeju flights get cancelled

Jeju’s weather is the one real risk on this route. Heavy snow on 8 February 2026 cancelled 163 flights and stranded about 11,000 people; wind shear on 9 April cancelled 231, and again on 12 July, 105 had been cancelled by lunchtime. Typhoons add to it in August and September. Airlines rebook or refund cancelled flights, but on a day with hundreds of cancellations the next free seat can be a day or two away. Don’t book the last flight off Jeju the evening before an international departure from Incheon.

Jeju Airport to Jeju City and Seogwipo

Jeju Airport sits on the edge of Jeju City, so if you’re staying in town, a taxi costs about 7,000 to 10,000 won; the base fare has been 4,300 won since July 2024. Seogwipo and the Jungmun resort area are on the south coast, 40 to 55 minutes away, and a taxi there costs roughly 35,000 to 60,000 won. The airport limousine bus 600 runs to Jungmun and Seogwipo in about an hour for about 4,500 to 5,500 won, and express buses also go to Seogwipo.

Jeju’s buses went cashless in 2024, so have a card ready. Your T-money card works on Jeju’s buses and taxis; the Seoul Climate Card doesn’t. Kakao T works on the island in English and takes foreign cards, though waits get longer away from the two cities, so keep your Korea eSIM topped up.

Buses reach most sights, slowly. Many visitors rent a car instead, and for that you need an International Driving Permit, a licence you’ve held for at least a year, your passport and a credit card in the driver’s name; most companies set the minimum age at 21. Rental desks don’t all accept the same permits, and the 1949 Geneva booklet is the one that’s never refused, so bring that if you can. Korea drives on the right.

Do you need a K-ETA for Jeju?

If you fly to Seoul first, the Jeju flight is domestic: no passport control, no forms. The usual Korean entry rules apply when you land in Seoul, which our K-ETA guide covers. If you fly to Jeju directly from abroad, most nationalities can stay on the island visa-free for 30 days, but since September 2022 travelers from visa-waiver countries have needed a K-ETA for Jeju too, unless their country is on the exemption list that runs to 31 December 2026, which includes the US, UK, Canada and Australia.

Jeju has talked for years about charging visitors an environmental fee. In June 2026 the governor called it “realistically difficult”, and nothing is charged. The island’s long-promised second airport is still at the environmental review stage, with no construction.

Heading south first? Our guide to getting from Seoul to Busan covers the KTX after the 2026 merger, and Busan’s airport is an hour from Jeju. Before you fly, read up on money in Korea.

Looking for the rest? Every Korea guide we’ve published, from the K-ETA to the T-money card, is sorted by topic in our South Korea travel guide.

Data checked: 2026-10-04