Korean Air sees opportunities in North America rather than in Europe due to Gulf carriers competition

SEOUL- Korean Air unveiled recently its plans for its fleet expansion in 2013. The carrier announced to add nine planes. Talking to Bloomberg news agency, Woo Kee Hong, senior vice president of strategy and planning at Korean Air, said a week ago that the additional aircraft will enable to boost flight frequencies to Seattle, Las Vegas, Vancouver and Chicago. The company will increase services to Southeast Asia, China and Japan while not adding routes to Europe, Woo said.

Korean Air, which counts Samsung Electronics Co. as its biggest source of revenue, expects passenger demand to increase 3.9 percent this year as economic growth in the U.S. and Asia, will help to balance weak economies and a likely down turn in business travel demand out of Europe. “We however see a lot of potential connecting the U.S. and Asia,” Woo said. Korean Air plans to add more seats between Atlanta and Seoul in August, by operating the A380 plane for part of its 10 weekly flights, Woo said.

Capacity to European cities will remain unchanged because of mounting competition with Middle East carriers, Woo said. The airline currently serves eleven destinations in Europe (Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Istanbul, London Heathrow, Madrid, Milan Malpensa, Paris CDG, Prague, Rome Fiumicino, Vienna and Zurich)

“Flying between Asia and Europe has become extremely competitive,” Woo said. “It’s not only the Middle Eastern carriers, but the airlines in Europe are also offering very competitive fares. The company had 146 planes on its fleet at the end of December, including six A380s and 32 Boeing B777s.The airline plans to retire its 747 aircraft as it adds more fuel-efficient planes, Woo said.

Sourced: TravelDailyNews