Asiana Airlines sues Gategroup

Former Kumho Asiana Group Chairman Park Sam-koo appears at Seoul Central District Court in this March 14 file photo. Yonhap

By Park Jae-hyuk

Asiana Airlines has filed a complaint with the prosecution against Gategroup for allegedly colluding with former Kumho Asiana Group Chairman Park Sam-koo, while filing a civil lawsuit to nullify its 30-year in-flight meal contract with the Swiss catering service provider, according to industry officials, Monday.

Asiana Airlines CEO Jung Sung-kwon

The series of legal actions are viewed as part of Asiana's efforts to minimize potential damage to Korean Air, which has been pushing ahead with its acquisition of the nation's second-largest air carrier.

Asiana confirmed that the criminal and civil suits had been filed in March and January, respectively, although it declined to comment on the ongoing litigations.

The carrier reportedly suspects Gategroup's former Chairman Xavier Rossinyol, former Asia-Pacific President Jann Fisch and two other top executives had colluded with Park, when he allowed the Swiss company to pay only 133.3 billion won ($105 million) in 2016 for the exclusive right to serve its in-flight meals on Asiana's planes until 2047.

At that time, the exclusive right was estimated to be worth around 500 billion won.

Park has been on trial for the allegation of asking Gategroup to acquire 160 billion won worth of bonds with warrants for cash-strapped Kumho Buslines, in exchange for securing the exclusive right to serve in-flight meals.

Depending on his sentencing next month, Asiana is expected to make further efforts to nullify its contract with Gategroup.

Unless the contract is voided, Asiana will have to guarantee Gategroup a certain amount of profits by 2047, which could cost the air carrier at least 250 billion won, leading to a significant financial burden for Korean Air.

Korean Air is awaiting approvals from international antitrust regulators for its acquisition of Asiana, as the Korea Fair Trade Commission gave its conditional approval for the plan in February.

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