Airline News
Asiana removes first class, Korean receives B747-8
August 31st 2015
Asiana Airlines, South Korea’s second largest carrier, last week said it would remove first class from the majority of its aircraft as part of a strict cost-cutting program. Read More » "We will change the current three-class seating system into a two-class one, keeping first-class only on Airbus 380 airliners," Asiana chief, Kim Soo-cheon, told employees via a video message. "The conventional growth strategy no longer works. We must focus on improving profitability by drastically changing the way we operate."
Airline officials said many foreign passengers were still reluctant to travel to Korea after the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in May, dealing a blow to the airline's bottom line. Kim said the carrier suffered more than 150 billion won ($127.7 million) in losses at its international operations in the June-August quarter. Previous demand for flights to China and Japan had been slow to recover, which will likely affect profits for the rest of the year.
Rival carrier, Korean Air, last week took delivery of the first of ten-on-order B747-8s, the stretched Jumbo Jet that has become popular as a freighter plane rather than a passenger aircraft. Only a handful of carriers has ordered the -8 passenger variant, including Air China, Korean and Lufthansa. Boeing says the -8 offers 16% savings in fuel consumption over the -400 and generates 30% less noise. Korean has configured its latest jet with 368 seats comprising six first class suites, 48 business and 314 economy seats. It will fly the -8 to Frankfurt and Singapore starting next month and to San Francisco and Hong Kong from November.
Korean Air’s LCC subsidiary, Jin Air, will open a base at Busan Gimhae International Airport next month, going head-to-head with Asiana’s budget offshoot, Air Busan, based at Gimhae since its inception in 2007.
