Korean Air-Delta joint venture to boost air traffic

A traveler uses a self check-in machine in front of a Korean Air ticketing center at Incheon International Airport's Terminal 2 on Feb. 18. / Yonhap

By Kang Seung-woo, Lee Suh-yoon

A planned joint venture between Korean Air and Delta Air Lines is expected to increase the number of visitors to the country via Incheon International Airport, according to the airport and the Korean flagship airline.

It would also benefit the two airlines in forging and expanding their fight networks and sharing costs and revenues, making their operations more efficient.

The joint venture will enable them to operate air routes to 290 destinations in South and North America, and 80 in Asia.

The two will also conduct joint marketing and sales and coordinate international flight schedules.

It would attract 400,000 additional Delta passengers transferring at Incheon Airport in 2018.

This would include 50,000 Delta passengers now transferring via Narita Airport every year.

“This joint venture will increase our competitiveness as a transfer hub in the North America-Asia route amid intensifying competition between airports in Northeast Asia,” said Jung Il-young, chief executive of Incheon International Airport Corp.

In November 2016, Jung visited Delta's headquarters to back the joint venture plan with Korean Air.

Korean Air and Delta have been running a code-share program.

They expanded the program in 2016, increasing the number of Delta transfer passengers to Incheon Airport by 75,000 the following year.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport approved the joint venture last week, following the U.S. Department of Transportation's green light in November.

The two airlines have not yet fully mapped out the steps in establishing their joint venture, Korean Air said.

“The foundation is ready but the specific details and steps still have to be worked out through more discussions between the two airlines,” a Korean Air spokesperson said.

But they are already coordinating their flight schedules.

Delta recently changed its Atlanta-Incheon flight timetable to prevent a schedule overlap with Korean Air, according to Incheon Airport's press release.

Delta and Korean Air now provide direct flights from Atlanta to Incheon and operate out of Incheon Airport's new Terminal 2.

This location would further enable the joint venture to efficiently provide services to customers.

Delta recently had a security breach that exposed payment information of hundreds of thousands of its passengers.

Georgia-based Delta's main hubs are John F. Kennedy Airport and Los Angeles International Airport.

Korean Air “nut rage” heiress Cho Hyun-ah recently returned to the company as a senior manager.