By Kang Seung-woo
Starting March 2020, the Incheon-San Francisco route of Asiana Airlines will be suspended for 45 days, the transport ministry said, Friday.
The decision is a punitive measure against Korea's second-largest carrier over a deadly crash landing in July 2013 that killed three Chinese passengers and injured 187. The ministry's announcement also came after the Supreme Court upheld a 45-day suspension on its San Francisco route last week.
“We have decided to suspend the route from March, considering the current booking situation,” said an official of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
According to the ministry, Asiana's booking status on the route is 52.2 percent in November, 54.5 percent in December, 47.2 percent in January, 24.6 percent in February, 12.5 percent in March and 9.5 percent in April.
“The ministry also instructed Asiana to minimize any fallout that customers may face from the suspension,” the official added.
The ministry said it will temporarily increase the number of flights of other airlines on the route during the suspension period if necessary.
Asiana's 307-passenger-carrying B777 plane crash-landed when approaching the runway at San Francisco International Airport.
In November 2014, the ministry 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 flight crews.
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's pilots violated navigation rules and took inadequate measures during the landing. The following year the Seoul High Court upheld the ruling.