Korean Air chief complains gov't 'too slow' to lift pandemic flight restrictions
Korean Air B787-9 / Courtesy of Korean Air
By Kim Hyun-bin
Korean Air Chairman Cho Won-tae is urging the government to lift all COVID-19 restrictions concerning air travelers, saying in a recent interview that Korea is reopening too slow to meet soaring travel demand.
Cho told the Financial Times that the Moon Jae-in administration is not doing enough to help companies normalize their businesses, stressing that pandemic-related restrictions on air travelers prevent the flagship carrier from increasing its flights.
“They should be opening up and we should be at least at 80 percent or 90 percent capacity. But right now, we're basically at 25 percent and can't sell any more tickets,” Cho said. The chairman emphasized the need to increase international flights as domestic flights account for only 6.6 percent of the company's total revenue in 2019.
“People want to get out to vacation spots in Asia ― to Singapore, to Thailand, to Vietnam,” the chairman said.
Cho Won-tae
He also called on the government to lift PCR test requirements for all inbound passengers to the country, calling the requirements “nonsense” and citing experts who say they are one of the main reasons that are hindering demand for international flights.
The Korean government lifted most social distancing measures, Monday, downgrading COVID-19 as a Class 2 disease, alongside conditions such as tuberculosis and cholera, from Class 1, alongside Ebola and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). The downgrade of COVID-19 to Class 2 means that those who test positive will no longer be legally required to quarantine.
Cho also touched upon Korean Air's ongoing acquisition of Asiana Airlines, which is expected to boost competitiveness.
The Fair Trade Commission gave conditional approval for Korean Air to purchase a 63.88 percent stake in Asiana Airlines, a deal worth some 1.8 trillion won ($1.5 billion) in February. The deal now awaits approval from antitrust regulators.
In January last year, Korean Air asked antitrust regulators of 14 other countries and regions, including the U.S., the European Union and China, to review the acquisition deal.
The company has received approval from eight countries so far, including Singapore, Turkey and Vietnam.
Cho says the acquisition is inevitable to compete in the market as the country's airline industry is heavily saturated, and as global competition continues to grow stronger.
“We were not able to expand as much, but the global competition was always getting stronger. The deal was an opportunity, but it was also a step for survival in the long term. Korea cannot afford to have nine airlines,” he said.
If the acquisition is completed, Korean Air, currently the world's 18th-largest airline by fleet, is expected to become the world's 10th-largest.
“Before COVID-19, passengers were flying to 110 cities, but as of April, only 36 destinations are in service,” a Korean Air official said. “The details of the chairman's interview are factually correct.”