Korean Air
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| Founded | 1962 (privatized 1969) | ||||||
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| Hubs | Incheon Int'l Airport Gimpo International Airport | ||||||
| Focus cities | Gimhae International Airport Jeju International Airport | ||||||
| Frequent-flyer program | SKYPASS | ||||||
| Alliance | SkyTeam | ||||||
| Fleet size | 118 | ||||||
| Destinations | 107 incl. cargo | ||||||
| Parent company | Korean Air ITDC | ||||||
| Headquarters | Seoul, Republic of Korea | ||||||
| Key people | Cho Yangho (Chairman and CEO) | ||||||
| Website | http://www.koreanair.com | ||||||
Template:Koreanname Korean Air (KRX: 003490) is the largest airline based in South Korea. One of the largest airlines in Asia, it operates a network that links Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, North America, and formerly to South America to its hub at Incheon International Airport and its domestic hub at Gimpo International Airport (formerly Kimpo International Airport). The airline competes with the smaller, younger fleet of Asiana Airlines.
In recent years, Korean Air has upgraded its fleet and services and has won international acclaims and awards. With its excellent financial performance in 2005, Korean Air received the "Phoenix Award" from Air Transport World (ATW) for its success in overcoming challenges in the global airline industry. It has been named one of Asia's best airlines by Time readers and twice has won the coveted Mercury Award for its inflight catering.
Korean Air has a major air cargo operation, which overtook Lufthansa in 2005 as the world's largest air cargo business.
History
Korean Air began in 1962 as Korean Air Lines and was owned by the South Korean Government. It replaced the former Korean carrier Korean National Airlines. In 1969 KAL was acquired by the Hanjin Transport Group and became privately owned.
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. KAL was also the Airbus's first customer outside Europe.
On September 1 1983, Korean Air Lines Flight 007, also known as KAL 007 or KE007, was shot down by Soviet jet interceptors just west of Sakhalin Island. It was carrying 269 passengers and crew at the time, including U.S. congressman Lawrence McDonald. There were no survivors. The Soviet Union stated it did not know the aircraft was civilian and suggested it had entered Soviet airspace as a deliberate provocation to test their response capabilities.
A blue-top livery was introduced in 1st of March, 1984 and the airline's name changed to Korean Air from Korean Airlines(Although this name is still used in official documents). This livery was first introduced in its Fokker F28. It was designed in corporation 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. So its MD-11 were converted to freighters (in addition to 747 freighters). Korean Air flies to the most US destinations of any Asian carrier (10 passenger cities in the 50 states). Korean Air currently owns 25% of Okay Airways, a Tianjin, PRC-based airline.
In October 2006, Korean Air has won top honors in the TIME Readers’ Travel Choice Awards 2006 as the Best First/Business Class Airline and the Best Frequent Flyer Program for its Skypass program. The South Korean flagship carrier beat strong international competitors and gained overwhelming support from the readers of TIME magazine to win these categories for the first time. Korean Air was also ranked second in the Preferred Airline category. TIME Magazine conducted the TIME Readers’ Travel Choice Awards 2006 poll from April 24 to June 25, 2006. On December 13, 2006, Korean Air decided to close it's route to Prague and considered opening flights to Warsaw instead.
Destinations
Safety Record
From mid 1980s to the late 1990s, Korean Air had safety problems. In fact, the SkyTeam alliance briefly removed Korean Air from its code share program until demonstrable changes were presented to the alliance. The US Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates access to the American airspace, warned the Korean Air management team that its access to the American airports would be restricted unless drastic changes were forthcoming. The U.S. military and the State department advised its personnel to avoid taking Korean Air if other commercial alternatives were available. The competing carrier, Asiana Airlines, benefited tremendously from the dramatic drop in Korean Air's reputation as its safety record was significantly better than Korean Air's.
Since the turn of the century, Korean Air has demonstrated robust improvements in safety and adopted modern principles of CRM (Crew Resource Management). In October 2006, Korean Air won top honors in the TIME Readers’ Travel Choice Awards an indication that many have regained confidence in South Korea's largest airline.
Fleet
Passenger Fleet
The Korean Air passenger fleet consists of the following aircraft as of November 2006:
| Aircraft | Total | Passengers (First*/Prestige*/Economy) |
Routes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A300-600 | 10 | 266 (24/242) 276 (24/252) |
To be phased out Replacement aircraft: Boeing 787 | |
| Airbus A330-200 | 3 | 258 (6/18/234) | Europe | Long haul international routes |
| Airbus A330-300 | 16 | 296 (12/28/256) 352 (24/328) |
Australia, Japan, and Middle East | Domestic and international routes |
| Airbus A380 | (5 orders) | Entry into service: 2010 | ||
| Boeing 737-700 | (1 order) | |||
| Boeing 737-800 | 14 | 149 (8/141) 164 (8/156) |
China | Short-medium haul domestic and international routes |
| Boeing 737-900 | 16 | 188 (8/180) | China | Short-medium haul domestic and international routes |
| Boeing 737-900ER | (4 orders) | |||
| Boeing 747-400 | 23 | 376 (12/58/306) 384 (16/58/310) |
North America and Europe | Long haul international routes Will be converted to Freighter Its passenger service will be replace by 777-300ER |
| Boeing 747-8 Freighter | (5 orders) | |||
| Boeing 777-200ER | 12 (6 orders) |
261 (8/28/225) 301 (12/28/261) |
North America and Australia(except SYD) | Long haul international routes |
| Boeing 777-300 | 4 | 376 (12/28/336) | South-East Asia | Medium-long haul international routes |
| Boeing 777-300ER | (10 orders) | North America | Replacing the passenger version of 747-400 | |
| Boeing 777 Freighter | (5 orders) | |||
| Boeing 787-8 | (10 orders) | Entry into service: 2009 Replacing: Airbus A300-600 |
*First Class is offered on domestic and short-haul Flights. Prestige Class is offered on international medium-long haul flights.
Cargo Fleet
The Korean Air cargo fleet consists of the following aircraft as of July 2006:
| Aircraft | Total | Routes | Notes | Orders |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boeing 747-400F | 19 | |||
| Boeing 747F | 1 | |||
| Boeing 747-8F | 8 |
The average age of the Korean Air fleet is 7.5 years as of July 2006. Korean Air operates 99 passenger aircraft, and 18 cargo aircraft, for a total of 117 planes.
On 31 May 2005 Korean Air signed an agreement on an additional order for a Boeing 747-400ERF, converting an option taken out in 2004, bringing total Korean Air orders for the aircraft to eight, of which five have been delivered. The new aircraft is scheduled for delivery in May 2006 (ref: Air International, July 2005). The airline is also ordering 747-8 and 777 freighters to expand their fleet.
On 29 December 2006 Korean Air has annouced that it will convert all passsenger 747-400 fleet to freighters to expand its fleet.
Korean Air Cargo has been ranked the world's top commercial airline cargo operation by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) for two consecutive years (2004~2005), as measured by international (not domestic) FTKs. During 2005, Korean Air recorded 7.982 billion international FTK, topping the charts.
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 certain number of miles per two-year cycle. Qualification for the highest level is based on lifetime flight miles, requiring a customer to fly 1 million miles. Membership in this level is granted for life.
Codeshare Agreements
The airline has code-share agreements with the following airlines (as of April 2006):
Korean Air is a founding partner in SkyTeam, the world's second largest alliance.
Korean Air is an airline partner of Skywards, the frequent flyer program for Emirates and Sri Lankan Airlines. Skywards members can earn miles for flying Korean Air and can redeem miles for free flights.
See also
External Links
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