Open Sky Pacts Feared to Lead Unsafe Air Travel
By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
Kim Jun-seok, a 27-year-old college student, planned to travel to Vietnam during the summer vacation. When he was searching for airline schedules, Kim's mother told him, ``Do not take carriers whose airfares are too low.''
Travelers have welcomed Korea's expansion of an open sky policy, as it has enabled a growing number of foreign carriers to operate here, especially budget airlines, and the competition among them has resulted in a drop in airfares.
But the pleasure of low fares turned into concerns over safety following last month's plane crash of Cambodian carrier PMT Air.
People worry that the government's open sky policy, which allows limitless flight operations, may allow substandard foreign budget carriers that use ramshackle planes and neglect safety.
The Ministry of Construction and Transportation is promoting liberalization of air transportation with other nations.
``We need to preoccupy major markets such as China, along with rapid growth of the Asian air market. Open sky is our strategy to become a logistics hub, and it will offer convenience to travelers and help Korean carriers advance into the world market,'' a ministry official said.
The first open sky pact was signed in 1998 with the United States. The move has been accelerated since last year _ Korea concluded pacts with China, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Malaysia and Kenya since 2006.
Most of those nations have relatively old aircraft.
MD-83 aircraft, which PMT Air operates on the Incheon-Siem Reap route since Korea and Cambodia signed an open sky agreement last September, are an older type of plane that Korean carriers do not use.
Royal Khmer Airlines of Cambodia operates B737-200 planes on the Incheon-Siem Reap route, the production of which is over, while Air Spirit, a Filipino carrier that started operations in May between Incheon and Boracay, use the even older type MD-82.
Older aircraft does not directly translate into a lack of safety. But experts say frequent replacement of parts may cause delays or other negative effects on operations.
Such airlines, however, have met the regulations on operations and maintenance set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), so the Korean government has to allow them to operate, although it can restrict operations if accidents occur.
``Airlines can obtain air operating certificates from their countries when they meet the ICAO standards. Airlines wanting to operate in Korea show us the certificate as proof of their qualification,'' the official said.
``And when contracting an aviation pact, Korea makes an agreement with counterpart countries that the Korean government can directly inspect airlines of the countries if the carriers have problems that prevent safe operations,'' he added.
The official said Korea is one of the countries having very high safety standards. Korea recently adopted a system disclosing lists of substandard carriers to the public.