T'way Air (Trinity Airways)

Is T'way Air safe?

Yes, on the evidence that matters most: T'way has never had a fatal accident or written offHull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary an aircraft. Maintenance is the weak spot. In May 2025 the transport ministry (MOLIT) fined it 2.6 billion won for skipped inspections and altered maintenance records, after five smaller fines in 2024. We score it 79, well above Jeju Air (68) and below Korean Air (84).

Since 10 September 2026 the airline flies as Trinity Airways, still under the TW code. The new name follows the Sono hospitality group's takeover in 2025. The company, its aircraft and the ICAO code TWB stayed the same.

What did the Korean audits find?

After the Jeju Air crash at Muan in December 2024, MOLIT called the heads of the low-cost airlines to a special safety meeting in January 2025. It said it would focus on how hard aircraft were being flown, whether airlines had enough engineers and whether they followed maintenance procedures, and it threatened to suspend operating certificates of airlines that fell short.

T'way was the airline it then fined most. On 27 May 2025 MOLIT announced three findings:

• Engine exhaust cracks. On three aircraft, T'way checked the engine exhaust for cracks at intervals it had set itself, not the manufacturer's seven days.
• Hydraulics. While fixing hydraulic defects it skipped a filter change, refitted a hydraulic filter that must not be reused, and flew aircraft without a required hydraulic fluid test.
• Records. When defects came back after the aircraft had been declared airworthy, existing maintenance records were deleted or changed so they no longer matched what had happened.

Three engineers had their licences suspended for 45, 30 and 15 days. Jeju Air was fined 800 million won and Korean Air 133 million won in the same round.

The 2025 fine was not the first. A Kyeongin Ilbo report on the National Assembly audit in October 2024 said T'way had been fined five times, for a total of 2 billion won, for breaking operations and maintenance rules, and that in August 2024 the ministry had ordered it to stop flying (in the report's words) over an aircraft defect. The report gave no detail of which aircraft or for how long.

Altered records are the most serious of these. A maintenance system only works if the paperwork is true.

Engine problems and delays

Some of the trouble showed up as long delays. Ministry figures cited at the 2024 audit put 30.7% of T'way flights from 2023 to July 2024 as delayed or cancelled, the second-worst rate among Korean airlines. In June and July 2024, a Bangkok–Cheongju flight left 20 hours late, an Incheon–Osaka flight 11 hours and a Fukuoka–Incheon flight 15 hours 40 minutes.

The engine findings in the 2025 fine concerned inspection intervals, not failures. The one engine event we found in flight was in August 2022, when an A330-300 from Singapore to Seoul diverted to Taipei after an oil supply anomaly on one Trent 700 engine. It landed normally.

What accidents and incidents has T'way had?

None fatal. The ones on record:

• Incheon, August 2016. A 737-800 arriving from Osaka (flight TW282, 183 on board) with a trainee captain flying bounced on landing, and the tail hit the runway on the second touchdown. The crew went around and landed. Korea's investigation board blamed late, insufficient flare and the pairing of a low-experience instructor with a low-experience trainee.
• Turbulence, 2019 and 2024. A flight attendant broke an ankle approaching Narita in May 2019 (investigated by Japan's JTSB). In May 2024 a cabin crew member and a passenger were seriously injured on an A330 over northern China.
• Kansai, November 2024. A T'way 737-800 taxiing for take-off missed its turn and crossed the hold line onto an active runway while a Jin Air 737 was rotating. The Jin Air jet was already climbing and passed over it at about 600 ft.
• Power bank fire, January 2026. On a 737-8 from Sanya to Cheongju, a passenger's power bank began to smoke. Crew put it in water; three cabin crew and five passengers inhaled smoke, and the crew were taken to hospital.
• Taipei, February 2026. A 737-800 from Jeju lost its right outboard wheel during the landing roll, then rolled out and taxied to the stand.

Who oversees T'way?

South Korea's transport ministry. Korea holds FAA IASAFAA IASAThe US FAA's check of whether a country's aviation regulator meets ICAO standards. Category 1 means it does; Category 2 means it does not.More in the glossary Category 1, no Korean airline is on the EU Air Safety ListEU Air Safety ListThe European Commission's list of airlines banned or restricted from flying in EU airspace because they do not meet international safety standards.More in the glossary (June 2026 edition), and T'way, listed by IATA as Trinity Airways, is an IATA member, which requires an IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary audit. We keep oversight at 84, as for Korean Air and Asiana: the ministry approved the concrete localizer berm that turned the Muan crash into a disaster.

What does T'way fly?

Mostly older 737-800s. In September 2025 ch-aviation counted 44 aircraft: 26 737-800s, five 737-8s, six A330-200s, five A330-300s and two 777-300ERs. Newsis put the average age at 13.4 years in June 2025. T'way has 16 more 737-8s on order for delivery by 2027 and plans A330-900s from 2026, which would bring the average down to about 8.9 years. Its own maintenance hangar at Incheon has slipped to a start in December 2027.

How to fly T'way safely

On the short Japan and China routes, keep your belt fastened whenever you are seated: two of T'way's injury accidents were turbulence, and the 2019 injury was to a flight attendant on her feet in the cabin. Pack power banks in the cabin, never in checked bags, and do not charge them during the flight; a power bank put three of T'way's cabin crew in hospital in January 2026.

How we scored it

The accident record (90) is clean of deaths and lost aircraft. Serious incidents (55) is the weak factor: repeated maintenance fines, altered records and a runway incursion within two years. The fleet (66) is older than Jeju Air's, and oversight (84) matches other Korean airlines. Overall 79.