South Korea’s Parata Air has received tentative approval from the U.S. Transportation Department (DOT) for a foreign air carrier permit, clearing a regulatory hurdle for the start-up airline’s planned entry into the U.S. long-haul market.
The department has granted the airline an exemption to begin operations immediately and made a preliminary finding that it is in the public interest to award it a foreign air carrier permit, subject to a standard show-cause process and conditions.
The exemption authority allows Parata Air to operate scheduled passenger and cargo services between South Korea and the U.S., as well as international charter flights involving the two countries and select third-country routes. The exemption will remain valid for two years or until the permit becomes effective, whichever occurs first.
Parata Air, an LCC that restructured from the former Fly Gangwon, applied for U.S. authority in October 2025 as it set out plans to launch long-haul services for the 2026 summer season. The airline intends to operate two initial transpacific routes—from Seoul Incheon to both Las Vegas and Los Angeles—using Airbus A330-200 aircraft.
The carrier is wholly owned by Winix, a South Korean business that acquired the bankrupt Fly Gangwon in 2024 and re-registered it under the new Parata Air brand. The airline received a new air operator certificate on Sept. 8, 2025, and began commercial operations later that month.
Parata Air currently operates two domestic routes—Jeju–Seoul Gimpo and Jeju–Yangyang—as well as five international services from Seoul Incheon to Osaka Kansai and Tokyo Narita in Japan, and Da Nang, Nha Trang Cam Ranh and Phu Quoc in Vietnam.
The planned U.S. routes would place Parata Air into two competitive long-haul markets. For the week of Jan. 19, OAG Schedules Analyser data shows Seoul Incheon–Los Angeles is operated 14X-weekly by Korean Air, 11X-weekly by Air Premia and daily by Asiana Airlines. Korean Air also serves Seoul Incheon–Las Vegas daily.
More broadly, seven airlines currently operate nonstop services between South Korea and the U.S. Korean Air is the largest player, with 91X-weekly frequencies and a 42.7% share of total capacity. Delta Air Lines follows with 38 flights per week and a 16.3% share, narrowly ahead of Asiana Airlines, which operates 31X-weekly services and holds 16.4% of capacity. Air Premia accounts for 14% of capacity, while United Airlines, American Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines together make up the remaining share.
DOT says the authority sought by Parata Air is encompassed by the existing aviation agreement between the U.S. and South Korea and concluded that granting the exemption is consistent with the public interest. According to the CAPA Fleet Database, the airline currently operates four aircraft, comprising two A320s and two A330-200s.
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