Asiana to reduce flight services for maintenance

By Kim Hyun-bin

Asiana Airlines will cut back on flight services for maintenance purposes after scores of planes were delayed in recent months.

The airline announced Friday it will reduce flights services to U.S. and European cities starting October to comply with a set of instructions issued by the government.

Earlier this month, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport conducted a special inspection of the nation's second largest carrier over its frequent flight delays and recommended it set aside reserve planes in case others are undergoing maintenance.

“To enhance flight operations and reduce delays Asiana needs to secure reserve planes that can be deployed in case of unexpected maintenance and emergency flight situations,” said the ministry.

In the first half of this year, Asiana ranked first in the nation for number of flight delays surpassing 15 minutes.

The airline accounted for 57.7 percent of the delays among other local carriers, according to data from the transport ministry.

Asiana operates around half the number of aircraft than Korean Air does, however, it serves around 70 percent of the routes compared to its main competitor, which the ministry deemed unreasonable.

The number of flights to the United States and Europe will be reduced from 82 a week to 75 in October, on routes to six cities in the U.S. and Europe, according to the airline.

“We are looking into ways to compensate and book alternative flights for passengers that are affected by the changes,” an Asiana official said.

The transport ministry is also scheduled to conduct special inspections on other local carriers in the near future, and plans to introduce a flight interval standard.