Korean Air
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| Founded | 1962 (privatized 1969) | |||
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| Hubs | Incheon International Airport Gimpo International Airport |
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| Focus cities | Gimhae International Airport Jeju International Airport |
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| Frequent flyer program | SKYPASS | |||
| Member lounge | Korean Air Lounge | |||
| Alliance | SkyTeam | |||
| Subsidiaries | Jin Air | |||
| Fleet size | 126 (+49 orders) | |||
| Destinations | 116 | |||
| Company slogan | Excellence in Flight | |||
| Parent company | Hanjin Group | |||
| Headquarters | Seoul, South Korea | |||
| Key people | Cho Yangho (Chairman and CEO) | |||
| Website | http://www.koreanair.com | |||
| Korean name | |
|---|---|
| Hangul | 대한항공 |
| Hanja | 大韓航空 |
| Revised Romanization | Daehan Hanggong |
| McCune–Reischauer | Taehan Hanggong |
Korean Air Lines Co., Ltd. (KRX: 003490), operating as Korean Air, is the largest airline of South Korea; its global headquarters are located in Seoul in Korea. Its international passenger division and related subsidiary cargo division together serve 130 cities in 45 countries, while its domestic division serves 20 destinations. It is among the top 20 airlines in the world airlines in terms of passengers carried. Incheon International Airport serves as Korean Air's international hub. Korean Air also maintains a satellite headquarters campus at Incheon, located 30 minutes away from South Korea's capital, Seoul.
Korean Air's main global headquarters campus and its Global Operations Center are located in Gonghang-dong, Gangseo-gu in Seoul.[1] Korean Air also maintains a domestic office campus at Gimpo International Airport in Seoul. Korean Air's lesser domestic superhubs are based at Jeju International Airport and Gimhae International Airport, Busan.[2] The maintenance facilities are located in Gimhae International Airport.
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[edit] History
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This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2008) |
Korean Air was founded by the South Korean Government in 1962 as Korean Air Lines to replace Korean National Airlines (founded in 1948). On 1 March 1969 the Hanjin Transport Group took control of the fledgling airline. Long-haul freight operations were introduced on 26 April 1971 followed by passenger services to Los Angeles International Airport(LAX) on 19 April 1972.[2]
International flights to Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Los Angeles were flown with Boeing 707s until the introduction of Boeing 747 in 1973. In 1973, KAL introduced Boeing 747s on their Pacific routes and started a European service to Paris using the 707 and DC-10. In 1975 KAL became one of Airbus's first Asian customers with the purchase of three A300s, which were put into immediate service on Asian routes.[3]
A blue-top, silver and redesigned livery with a new corporate "Korean Air" logo featuring an accented, stylized "taegukki" design was introduced on 1 March 1984 and the airline's name changed to Korean Air from Korean Air Lines. This livery was introduced on its Fokker F28s. It was designed in cooperation between Korean Air and Boeing. In 1990s Korean Air became the first airline to use the new MD-11 to supplement its new fleet of Boeing 747-400s. However, MD-11 did not meet the set performance and they were converted to freighters (in addition to 747 freighters).
Korean Air owns 25% of Okay Airways, a Tianjin, PRC-based airline.[citation needed] As of 2007, Korean Air is in negotiations to open its China hub in Beijing or Shanghai by the end of 2008.
The airline has 16,623 employees (at March 2007).[2] On 5 June 2007 Korean Air said that it would create a new low-cost carrier in Korea to compete with Korea's super-high speed railway network system named KTX which offers cheaper fares and less stringent security procedures. Korean Air's low-cost subsidiary is Jin Air, which started its scheduled passenger service from Seoul to Jeju on 17 July 2008. Korean Air announced that some of its B737s and A300s would be given to Jin air.
By 2009 Korean Air's image had become more prestigious, differing from the image of the late 1990s, which was tarnished by several fatal accidents.[4]
[edit] Destinations
Korean Air also flies charters to Kuwait for Korean troops serving in Iraq.
[edit] Fleet
The Korean Air fleet consists of the following aircraft (at 31 October 2009):[5]
| Aircraft | Total | Orders | Passengers (First/Business/Economy) |
Notes | |
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| Airbus A300-600R | 8 | 0 | 266 (0/24/242) 276 (0/24/252) |
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| Airbus A330-200 | 3 | 6 | 256 (6/18/232) | ||
| Airbus A330-300 | 16 | 0 | 296 (12/28/256) | ||
| Airbus A380-800 | 0 | 10 | TBA | ||
| Boeing 737-800 | 15 | 0 | 147 (0/12/135) 149 (0/8/141) 162 (0/12/150) |
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| Boeing 737-900 | 16 | 0 | 188 (0/8/180) | ||
| Boeing 737-900ER | 0 | 4 | TBA | ||
| Boeing 747-400 | 21 | 0 | 333 (10/61/262) 335 (12/61/262) 384 (16/58/310) |
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| Boeing 747-400M | 1 | 0 | 284 (0/48/236) | ||
| Boeing 777-200ER | 18 | 0 | 248 (8/28/212) 261 (8/28/225) 301 (12/28/261) |
1 in SkyTeam livery | |
| Boeing 777-300 | 4 | 0 | 376 (12/28/336) | ||
| Boeing 777-300ER | 3 | 8 | 291 (8/56/227) | ||
| Boeing 787-8 | 0 | 10 | TBA | ||
| Korean Air Cargo | |||||
| Boeing 747-400F | 10 | 0 | Cargo | ||
| Boeing 747-400ERF | 7 | 0 | Cargo | ||
| Boeing 747-400BCF | 5 | 0 | Cargo | ||
| Boeing 747-8F | 0 | 5 | Cargo | ||
| Boeing 777F | 0 | 5 | Cargo | ||
| Total | 126 | 49 | Last updated: 31 October 2009 | ||
[edit] Korean Air Uniform
Starting from 2005, Korean Air introduced their new uniform, designed by the Italian designer, Gianfranco Ferre.
[edit] Interior
A new color scheme of aircraft seats was introduced. Celadon green, a color that is characteristic to Korea, has been incorporated as the primary dominant colors to all First Class and Prestige Class seats.
In addition, dark blue and mocha chocolate was used for economy class seats. Korean Air engineers and customer service focus groups' conclusions and input were sought in also integrating ochre, aquamarine and various tones of blue in all newly acquired aircraft.
[edit] SKYPASS
SKYPASS is the frequent flyer program of Korean Air. "SKYPASS" also refers to the blue card which Korean Air frequent flyers are given. SKYPASS's motto is "Beyond your Imagination," which is also printed on the card. The program's elite levels are comparable to those of other airlines' frequent flyer programs, requiring members to fly a 30,000 miles per two-year cycle.(initial entry into this level requires 50,000 miles) Qualification for the highest level is based on lifetime flight miles, requiring a customer to fly 1 million miles for Million Miler, which is the highest elite status, or 500,000 miles for Morning Calm Premium, which comes second. Both membership levels are eligible for Skyteam Elite Plus privileges. Membership in these levels are granted for life.
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Korean Air has codeshare agreements with the following airlines as of October 2009:
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Korean Air is a founding partner airline in SkyTeam, the world's second largest airline alliance.
Korean Air is an airline partner of Skywards, the frequent flyer program for Emirates. Skywards members can earn miles for flying Korean Air and can redeem miles for free flights.
[edit] Aerospace research and manufacturing
Korean Air is also involved in aerospace research and manufacturing. The division, known as the Korean Air Aerospace Division (KAL-ASD), manufactures licensed versions of the MD 500 and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and the F-5E/F Tiger II fighter aircraft,[6] the aft fuselage and wings for the KF-16 fighter aircraft manufactured by Korean Aerospace Industries,[7] and parts for various commercial aircraft including the Boeing 737, 747, 777, and the Airbus A330, and A380.[8] In 1991 the division designed and flew the Korean Air Chang-Gong 91 light aircraft. KAA also provides aircraft maintenance support for the United States Department of Defense in Asia and maintains a research division with focuses on launch vehicle, satellite, commercial and military aircraft, helicopter, and simulation systems.[9]
[edit] Incidents and accidents
- Main article: Korean Air incidents and accidents
Korean Air has a relatively high accident rate, between 1970 and 1999 it wrote off 16 aircraft in serious incidents and accidents, with the loss of 700 lives. Since the last crash in 1999, a change in culture at Korean Air has vastly improved safety.[10] The last fatal passenger incident, was the Korean Air Flight 801 crash in 1997. The latest crew fatality was Korean Air Cargo flight 8509 in December 1999.
Notable incidents include:
- Korean Air Lines Flight 007, also known as KAL 007, was a Korean Air Lines civilian airliner shot down by Soviet jet interceptors on 1 September 1983, just west of Sakhalin island. 269 passengers and crew, including US congressman Lawrence McDonald, were aboard KAL 007; there were no known survivors.
- Korean Air Cargo Flight 8509, was a Korean Air Cargo Boeing 747-200 that crashed shortly after take off from London Stansted Airport, England. The cause of the crash was pilot error. All crew members were killed.
[edit] Gallery
 Korean Air/Hanjin office and signage in Minato, Tokyo, Japan as seen from the Tokyo Tower |
[edit] References
- ^ "Company Info / Overview." Korean Air. Accessed 20 September 2008.
- ^ a b c "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International: p. 102. 2007-04-03.
- ^ Korean Air Lines Co., Ltd. History
- ^ Yu, Roger. "Korean Air upgrades service, image." USA Today. August 26, 2009. Retrieved on September 16, 2009.
- ^ 항공기 소개"[1]"(in Korean)
- ^ GlobalSecurity.org
- ^ Lockheed Martin - Republic of Korea
- ^ Carrier moonlights in aerospace
- ^ Korean Air Aerospace Division Official Website
- ^ Kirk, Don. "New Standards Mean Korean Air Is Coming Off Many 'Shun' Lists." The New York Times. Tuesday March 26, 2002. Retrieved on September 23, 2009.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Korean Air |
- Korean Air official website
- Online Booking
- Morning Calm inflight magazine
- Korean Air Cargo
- Korean Air Aerospace Division
- Korean Air Channel - YouTube
