Airlines Will Increase Intl Fares Next Month
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff Reporter
Korean Air and Asiana Airlines announced price hikes Friday for international flights to the United States, Europe and Oceania by up to 15 percent starting next month.
Korean Air revealed the raise on its Web site. Its increase to the U.S. will be 10 percent regardless of class and 5 percent for flights to Europe, except for economy class and flights to Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, the Czech Republic and Russia.
There is also a 5 percent hike for flights to Oceania, except for those going to Fiji and New Caledonia.
Asiana Airlines set 10 to 15 percent hikes for flights going to and from major U.S. cities.
The rate for European destinations will be increased by between 5 to 10 percent and there are 5 to 15 percent raises planned for flights to Sydney, Australia.
The two carriers say that the hike was inevitable after price freezes on international airfares for more than two years.
``We raised the airfare for some international routes for the first time in three years,'' an airline official said. ``We tried to maintain the rate when the oil price soared to meet with the government's price policy. However, this hike was unavoidable for the industry due to the weaker Korean currency and the fallout of the global economic slowdown.''
The prices could vary, depending on discounts, seasonal differences and other adjustment factors, the official added.