SEOUL, Jan 6, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - South Korean authorities have extended the closure of a southwestern airport where a Jeju Air plane crashed and killed 179 people onboard, the land ministry said Monday.

Authorities are still probing the cause of the accident on December 29, when Jeju Air flight 2216 from Thailand carrying 181 passengers and crew belly-landed in a South Korean airport and slammed into a concrete barrier in a fireball.

The closure of Muan International Airport has been extended until January 14, the ministry of land said in a statement to AFP on Monday.

The ministry did not specify the reason but in a briefing last week deputy minister for civil aviation Joo Jong-wan said "if the investigation gets longer, the period (of closure) is susceptible to change". 

The bodies of the 179 people killed would also all be returned to the families on Monday, acting interior minister Ko Ki-dong said.

"Today, the process of handing over the victims to families is expected to be completed," he told a government meeting Monday.

The return will allow families to hold funerals for their loved ones after a week-long wait.

South Korean and US investigators, including from the aircraft's manufacturer Boeing, have been combing the crash site in southwestern Muan since the disaster.

The exact cause of the Boeing 737-800 crash is still unknown, but investigators have pointed to a bird strike, faulty landing gear and the runway barrier as possible issues.

The pilot warned of a bird strike before pulling out of a first landing, and then crashing on a second attempt when the landing gear did not emerge.

Authorities this week carried out search-and-seizure operations at Muan airport, a regional aviation office in the southwestern city, and Jeju Air's office in the capital Seoul, police said.

The plane was largely carrying South Korean holidaymakers back from year-end trips to Bangkok, except for two Thai passengers.

The incident prompted a national outpouring of mourning, with memorials set up across the country.