Top court confirms 45-day suspension on Asiana's San Francisco operation

Asiana Airlines Airbus A350

By Kim Hyun-bin

Korea's top court upheld an administrative order Thursday mandating Asiana Airlines to suspend operations on the Incheon-San Francisco route for 45 days as a punitive measure over a crash landing in July 2013.

Following the court order, the carrier is required to suspend flights on the route within six months.

The Supreme Court denied the carrier's request to annul the transport ministry's 2014 ruling ordering the suspension of operations.

It upheld decisions by lower courts, which ruled Asiana Airlines did not provide sufficient education or training to the pilots whose misjudgment caused the accident.

The Asiana Airlines' B777 aircraft crash-landed when approaching the runway at San Francisco International Airport. Three Chinese passengers were killed and 187 of the 307 on board were injured.

In November 2014, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport ordered the carrier to suspend flights on the route for 90 days, but later reduced the punishment by half, citing the carrier's efforts to compensate the victims.

The transport ministry said the crash was caused by pilot error and the company's failure to properly train the flight crew.

The airline filed and won an injunction in January 2015, which allowed it to continue operations to the U.S. city until a court ruled on the case.

In 2016, the Seoul Administrative Court ruled in favor of the government, stating Asiana pilots violated navigation rules and took inadequate measures during the landing. The following year the Seoul High Court upheld the ruling.

Asiana said the suspension is expected to cause it 11 billion won in losses. To minimize these, the carrier is expected to consult with the transport ministry to select a period when it flies the least number of passengers to San Francisco.

“We respect the court ruling. To minimize the inconvenience to our customers, we will consult with relevant organizations,” Asiana Airlines said in a statement released soon after the ruling.