Airline Profile: Korean Air
Korean Air is a privately-owned flag-carrier with scheduled passenger services to around 100 cities in over 30 countries, in addition to a dense domestic network. The airline is also one of the world's leading cargo carriers, serving nearly fifty cities in over 25 countries.
History
Korean Air was formed by the Hanjin Group after it had taken over small regional carrier National Korean Airlines in March 1969. New flights were introduced within a few months and by 1997 Korean Air had grown into a major international carrier carrying over 25 million passengers and in excess of one million tons of cargo per annum to destinations worldwide. The airline opened its world headquarters building in 1997.
In November 1999 the Korean government imposed a ban on Korean Air launching new international flights following a spate of serious accidents that led to the suspension of a number of airline's alliance agreements.
In June 2000 Korean Air joined Air France, Delta and Aeromexico as a full member of SkyTeam global airline alliance.
In September 2006 Korean Air took a 25 per cent stake in a joint venture to establish a new cargo airline in Tianjin, China to be known as Grand Star Cargo International. The new cargo carrier is planning to operate two Airbus A300-622R(F) freighters, transferred from Korean Air from late 2007. The other joint venture partners are Chinese and comprise Sinotrans Air, a major logistics company and two investment companies, Hana Capital and Shinhan Capital.
In June 2007 Korean was reported to be planning to launch a low cost subsidiary carrier to operate domestic and international flights, operating Boeing 737s to popular regional tourist destinations, in particular, within three years.
Fleet
- 10x Airbus A300
- 19x Airbus A330
- 30x Boeing 737
- 38x Boeing 747
- 22x Boeing 777
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