KALs Budget Carrier to Launch in May
By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
Korean Air will start operating a budget airline next May, tentatively named Air Korea.
The nation's biggest carrier said Monday that it has decided to set up a low cost carrier in December with 20 billion won, and launch international flights in May.
Having Incheon International Airport as its hub, it plans to operate flights to China's Shandong and Hainan provinces, Thailand, Malaysia and Japanese cities except Tokyo. It will later expand to short and mid-haul routes.
The budget carrier will use three A300 and two B737 aircrafts, while taking advantage of Korean Air's know-how on maintenance and operational training programs to ensure safety.
``Air Korea will seek high safety standards and low airfare prices, so that a wide range of people can travel safely by air at reasonable prices,'' a Korean Air official said.
``Korean Air and Air Korea are expected to complement each other, with the former focusing on high-end business travel and the latter concentrating on short and mid-range tourism destinations,'' he said.
Korean Air's decision has come amid the growing budget air travel market in Asia. In Korea, 15 foreign low cost carriers are currently in operation, including Cebu Pacific Air and Orient Thai Airlines. Around three more will start operating in the first half of next year.
Asiana Airlines, the second-largest national carrier, said it is not considering setting up a budget airline, saying it expects the Ministry of Construction and Transportation to come up with strict criteria on granting operation licenses. ``Air Korea is one of the new budget airlines in the country, and it is not logical to think that it will have the same operational skills as Korean Air, merely because it is financed through Korean Air,'' the carrier said in the statement.
The ministry will announce new operational license regulations soon. It plans to grant an international operation license to carriers that have two to three years of domestic operation experience to ensure safety.