Korean Air Lines Co., Ltd. (KRX: 003490), operating as Korean Air, is both the flag carrier and the largest airline of South Korea, with global headquarters located in Seoul. Korean Air's international passenger division and related subsidiary cargo division together serve 130 cities in 45 countries, while its domestic division serves 20 destinations. It is among the top 20 airlines in the world in terms of passengers carried and is also the top-ranked international cargo airline. Incheon International Airport serves as Korean Air's international hub. Korean Air also maintains a satellite headquarters campus at Incheon.
Korean Air's main global headquarters campus, the Korean Air Operations Center (대한항공 빌딩), is located in Gonghang-dong, Gangseo-gu in Seoul. Korean Air also maintains a domestic office campus at Gimpo International Airport in Seoul. Korean Air's lesser domestic hubs are based at Jeju International Airport, Jeju and Gimhae International Airport, Busan.The maintenance facilities are located in Gimhae International Airport.
Skytrax, which publishes official ratings of airlines and airports, rates Korean Air as a four-star (out of five) airline. Korean Air is currently North America's largest airline to Asia. Its main rival is Asiana Airlines, another South Korean carrier.
History
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| Korean Air Lines Boeing 747SP at EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg, France/Switzerland. (1985) |
Korean Air was founded by the South Korean Government in 1962 as Korean Air Lines to replace Korean National Airlines (founded in 1948 and indicated in 1929). On 1 March 1969 the Hanjin Transport Group took control of the fledgling airline. Long-haul freight operations were introduced on 26 April 1971 followed by passenger services to Los Angeles International Airport(LAX) on 19 April 1972.
International flights to Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Los Angeles were flown with Boeing 707s until the introduction of Boeing 747 in 1973. In 1973, KAL introduced Boeing 747s on their Pacific routes and started a European service to Paris using the 707 and DC-10. In 1975 KAL became one of Airbus's first Asian customers with the purchase of three A300s, which were put into immediate service on Asian routes.
A blue-top, silver and redesigned livery with a new corporate "Korean Air" logo featuring an accented, stylized "taegukki" design was introduced on 1 March 1984 and the airline's name changed to Korean Air from Korean Air Lines. This livery was introduced on its Fokker F28s. It was designed in cooperation between Korean Air and Boeing. In 1990s Korean Air became the first airline to use the new MD-11 to supplement its new fleet of Boeing 747-400s. However, MD-11 did not meet the set performance and they were converted to freighters (in addition to 747 freighters).
As of 2007, Korean Air was in negotiations to open its China hub in Beijing or Shanghai by the end of 2008.
The airline has 16,623 employees (as of March 2007). On 5 June 2007, Korean Air said that it would create a new low-cost carrier in Korea to compete with Korea's super-high speed railway network system named KTX which offers cheaper fares and less stringent security procedures. Korean Air's low-cost subsidiary is Jin Air, which started its scheduled passenger service from Seoul to Jeju on 17 July 2008. Korean Air announced that some of its B737s and A300s would be given to Jin air.
In the 1980s Korean Air's head office was in the KAL Building on Namdaemunno, Jung-gu, Seoul.
By 2009 Korean Air's image had become more prestigious, differing from the image of the late 1990s, which was tarnished by several fatal accidents.
In mid-2010, a co-marketing deal with games company Blizzard Entertainment sent a B747-400 and a B737-900 taking to the skies wrapped in StarCraft II branding. In August 2010, Korean Air announced heavy second-quarter losses despite record high revenue. Also in August 2010, Hanjin Group (the parent of Korean) opened a new cargo terminal at Navoi in Uzbekistan, which will become a cargo hub with regular Incheon-Navoi-Milan flights.
Destinations
Korean Air, along with British Airways, Delta Air Lines, Emirates, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas Airlines, Qatar Airways, South African Airways, and United Airlines, is one of only nine airlines that fly to all six inhabited continents. The airline's operation is heavily centered around East Asia, North America and Europe.
Main article: Korean Air destinations
Korean Air has codeshare agreements, beside SkyTeam members, with the following airlines as of September 2010:
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Korean Air is a founding partner airline in SkyTeam, the world's second largest airline alliance.
Korean Air is an airline partner of Skywards, the frequent-flyer program for Emirates. Skywards members can earn miles for flying Korean Air and can redeem miles for free flights. In addition, on certain routes (e.g. the Seoul-Kuala Lumpur route and vice versa) Korean Air's codesharing agreement with Malaysia Airlines also allows Malaysia Airline's Enrich members to earn miles even though when flying with Korean Air.
Fleet
The Korean Air Boeing customer code is 'B5'. Therefore, any Boeing aircraft purchased directly from Boeing will feature this code. E.g. Boeing 737-800 will be 737-8B5, 747-400 will be 747-4B5 and so on.
The Korean Air fleet consists of the following aircraft (at 21 May 2010):
| Aircraft | Total | Orders | Passengers | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F | C | Y | Total | ||||
| Airbus A300-600R | 8 | — | 24 | 242 252 | 266 256 | ||
| Airbus A330-200 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 24 | 196 | 226 | |
| Airbus A330-300 | 16 | — | 6 12 | 22 28 | 252 256 | 280 296 | |
| Airbus A380-800 | — | 10 | TBA | First aircraft to be delivered in May 2011 To be first used on flights between Asia and the US | |||
| Boeing 737-700 | 1 | — | 174 | 174 | VIP | ||
| Boeing 737-800 | 14 | — | 16 8 12 | 129 141 150 | 145 149 162 | HL7706 painted in the Children's Day livery | |
| Boeing 737-900 | 16 | — | 8 | 180 | 188 | HL7726 painted in the Starcraft livery | |
| Boeing 737-900ER | — | 4 | TBA | ||||
| Boeing 747-400 | 17 | — | 10 12 16 | 61 61 58 | 262 262 310 | 333 335 384 | HL7488 painted in the British Museum livery HL7491 painted in the Starcraft livery |
| Boeing 747-400 Combi | 1 | — | 48 | 236 | 284 | ||
| Boeing 747-8I | — | 5 | TBA | ||||
| Boeing 777-200ER | 18 | — | 8 8 | 28 28 | 212 225 | 248 261 | HL7733 painted in the Skyteam livery HL7752 painted in the 2018 Olympics livery |
| Boeing 777-300 | 4 | — | 6 | 35 | 301 | 342 | |
| Boeing 777-300ER | 6 | 5 | 8 | 56 | 227 | 291 | |
| Boeing 787-8 | — | 10 | TBA | ||||
| Total | 131 | ||||||
| Aircraft | In Fleet | Orders | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boeing 747-400F | 9 | 0 | |
| Boeing 747-400ERF | 8 | 0 | |
| Boeing 747-400BCF | 7 | 2 | |
| Boeing 747-8F | 0 | 7 | |
| Boeing 777F | 0 | 5 |
Korean Air announced on 4 December 2009 that it would order five Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental aircraft worth $1.5 billion in list prices. This is in addition to the seven Boeing 747-8F freighters Korean Air Cargo will be operating.
Interior
A Boeing 777-300 being serviced at Narita International Airport
Korean Air serves four types of first classes, three types of business (Prestige) classes, and a single type of economy class currently. First Classes are either "Kosmo Suite" (on entire Boeing 777-300ER fleet and some 777-200ER fleet) seats, "Kosmo Sleeper" (on some Boeing 747-400 and 777-200ER fleet), Sleeper (on some Boeing 747-400 and 777-300), and old first class seats. All "Kosmo Suite", "Kosmo Sleeper", and "Sleeper" seats recline to 180 degrees, while old first class seats recline up to 150 degrees. The old first class seats are being phased out. Prestige Class seats are either "Prestige Sleeper" (on entire 777-300ER, and 777-200ER fleet that feature "Kosmo Suite" seats), "Prestige Plus" (on most Boeing 777-200ER, Boeing 747-400 and one Boeing 777-300), or old Prestige Class seats. "Prestige Sleeper" seats recline to 180 degrees, while Prestige Plus seats recline up to 172 degrees. Old Prestige Class seats recline up to 138 degrees. Old Prestige Class seats are being phased out except for Airbus 300-600, Boeing 747-400 Combi, and Boeing 737 aircraft. Economy class seats recline up to 121 degrees, and a new type of seats called New Economy Class are installed on all of Boeing 777-300ER and Boeing 777-200ER aircraft with Kosmo Suite, all Boeing 777-300 aircraft and some Airbus A330-300 and 200 aircraft.
The brand new first class, the "Kosmo Suite" seats, and the business class, "Prestige Sleeper" seats were first introduced in the Boeing 777-300ERs in May 2009. Both seats could stretch to 180 degrees, and became more private than seats before.
The color 'Celadon Green', which represents the characteristics of Korea, is incorporated as the primary dominant colors to all "First Class" and "Prestige Class" seats. Dark blue and Mocha Chocolate colors are used in economy seats.
Loyalty programme
SKYPASS is the frequent-flyer program of Korean Air. "SKYPASS" also refers to the blue card which Korean Air frequent flyers are given. The motto of SKYPASS is "Beyond your Imagination". The program's elite levels are comparable to those of other airlines' frequent flyer programs, requiring members to fly a 30,000 miles per two-year cycle.(initial entry into this level requires 50,000 miles) Qualification for the highest level is based on lifetime flight miles, requiring a customer to fly 1 million miles for Million Miler, which is the highest elite status, or 500,000 miles for Morning Calm Premium, which comes second. Both membership levels are eligible for Skyteam Elite Plus privileges. Membership in these levels are granted for life.
Aerospace research and manufacturing
A Korean Air Boeing 777 at Narita International Airport in Narita, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, near Tokyo
Korean Air is also involved in aerospace research and manufacturing. The division, known as the Korean Air Aerospace Division (KAL-ASD), manufactures licensed versions of the MD 500 and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and the F-5E/F Tiger II fighter aircraft, the aft fuselage and wings for the KF-16 fighter aircraft manufactured by Korean Aerospace Industries,and parts for various commercial aircraft including the Boeing 737, 747, 777, 787 and the Airbus A330, and A380. In 1991 the division designed and flew the Korean Air Chang-Gong 91 light aircraft. KAA also provides aircraft maintenance support for the United States Department of Defense in Asia and maintains a research division with focuses on launch vehicle, satellite, commercial and military aircraft, helicopter, and simulation systems.
Incidents and accidents
All about: Korean Air incidents
Korean Air had a relatively high accident rate between 1970 and 1999, during which time it wrote off 16 aircraft in serious incidents and accidents with the loss of 700 lives. On Sept. 1, 1983,Korean Air Lines Flight 007, carrying 269 people, including a sitting U.S. Congressman, Larry McDonald, was shot down by the Soviets west of Sakhalin Island. Since the last fatality in 1999, safety has greatly improved. The last fatal passenger incident was the Korean Air Flight 801 crash in 1997. The latest crew fatality was Korean Air Cargo flight 8509 in December 1999.
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