Air Transport

South Korea’s Asiana Airlines is close to finalising a major order for widebody twinjets.

The Star Alliance carrier has been in discussions with Airbus and Boeing on an order for A350s and/or 787s for some time.

CEO Chan Bup Park said in an interview at the IATA annual general meeting in Istanbul that “hopefully in the middle of June” a decision can be taken.

Park will not say how many aircraft the carrier plans to order but industry sources say the purchase agreement will be large and if it is not announced in June it is likely to be confirmed at the Farnborough airshow next month.

The sources say it is highly possible that both aircraft types will be ordered, with the smaller portion being for leased aircraft.

Asiana has at the same time been assessing the ultra-large Airbus A380 and Boeing 747-8 as well but Park says there is “a little more to go” in the evaluations.

The carrier is meanwhile continuing with preparation work for planned new associate carrier Busan International Air, which it bought into earlier this year.

Busan International is hoping to launch services in the winter season later this year, says Park, adding that it will operate Boeing 737s.

Asiana announced in February that it had bought 46% of the planned carrier, which will be based in the secondary South Korean city of Busan. Other shareholders include the Busan city government and local businesses.

The low-cost market in South Korea is widely tipped to grow substantially in the years ahead as new airlines start operating. Main rival Korean Air is launching a low-cost subsidiary of its own called Air Korea.

Park says Busan International will start with domestic services from Busan, expanding later to international destinations such as in China and Japan.

Source: flightglobal.com's sister premium news site Air Transport Intelligence news