Korean Air Celebrates 40th Anniversary: ‘Beyond 40 Years of Excellence’ Airline Announces Business Objectives for 2019

Korean Air celebrated its 40th anniversary and announced its slogan for the year and business goals for year 2019 (the 50th anniversary) at a commemorative event held at its world headquarters building in Seoul.

Korean Air Chairman Yang Ho Cho (6th from the left), other executives and employees gathered at the Korean Air 40th Anniversary Ceremony to mix a large bowl of Bibimbap, symbolizing the company’s harmony and blend.

Privatized from state-run Korean Air Lines on 1 March 1969, Korean Air started with just eight small airplanes and was a practically unknown regional carrier. Forty years later, Korean Air operates a fleet of 130 aircraft to 116 destinations in 39 countries around the world.

For 40 years, Korean Air aircraft flew over 5.87 billion kilometers. The distance is equivalent to circling the earth 146,700 times, or 7,700 roundtrips between Earth and the moon. The accumulated number of passengers so far adds up to 472.51 million and the airline has carried over 27.3 million tons of cargo over the years

The new slogan “Beyond 40 Years of Excellence” stands in line with the corporate mission of Excellence in Flight and expresses the airline’s will to further pursue its vision “to be a respected leader in the world airline community” with an innovative and youthful spirit.

On its 40th anniversary, Korean Air looked towards the future rather than reminiscing in the past, and set a goal to accomplish when it reaches its 50th anniversary. By 2019, the carrier aims to increase its number of international passengers to 20 million per year by 2019 from 13 million last year, boosting it to a global top ten ranking in the passenger field. Already the global leader in cargo, Korean Air predicts it will retain this title and increase the number of air cargo tons carried per year from 1.66 million last year to 2.5 million by 2019.

For premium service enhancement, Korean Air will offer further upgraded seats in First and Prestige classes, beginning in May with newly delivered B777-300ER aircraft. The new First Class seats offer a wider, more comfortable 27-inch seat width.

Larger 23-inch personal video monitors will to deliver the full excitement of Korean Air’s AVOD (Audio Video On Demand) system on board. The new Prestige Class seat also has a 180 degree lie-flat feature which offers customers a level of coziness that rivals seating in first class of other carriers.

In terms of fleet expansion, the airline has previously announced orders to add Boeing 787s and Airbus 380s to its fleet mix. With ten of each aircraft type on order, the first double-decker A380 will join the fleet next year, while the Boeing 787 will be added from 2011 to 2014. The fleet expansion also includes 36 additional new aircraft including the B737NG and B777-300ER types. The current fleet count of 130 will be increased to more than 180 by 2019.

The airline will continue to focus on developing high-potential new markets, enlarging its network to 140 destinations across six continents including Africa, South America and Europe.

Korean Air will also expand its business to logistics-related projects, such as the Navoi Airport Development Project in Uzbekistan, and cargo airline joint venture Grandstar, to maximize its logistics know-how and secure a broader base of growth.

The 40th anniversary of Korean Air is an important milestone in the airline’s history, and more significantly, it is the start of a new era of growth towards 100 years and more.

KQ to start flights to Botswana

Gaborone is the 35th Kenya Airways destination in Africa with Libreville, Gabon and Congo-Brazzaville being the other recent additions.

Kenya Airways (KQ) has said that it will start flying to the Botswana capital, Gaborone as from 4 September.

The flights will be on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays under a code-sharing agreement with the state-owned Air Botswana. They will leave Nairobi for the Zambian capital Lusaka, then to Gaborone and back to Nairobi through Harare, Zimbabwe.

Kenya Airways expects about 475 passengers per round trip. The airline said that in future hope to fly to every African capital using Nairobi as a hub.

Gaborone is the 35th Kenya Airways destination in Africa with Libreville, Gabon and Congo-Brazzaville being the other recent additions.
One of the challenges they faced during the bilateral negotiations was getting permission from the Botswana aviation authorities to land in Gaborone.

Earn revenue

Code-sharing between Kenya Airways and Air Botswana is a common industry practice that allows airlines to earn revenue by selling tickets on each other’s flights.

Under the deal, one airline sells seats for partner’s flights, puts its own code number on the reservation and advertises the route as part of its own network.
It is a win-win situation because the ticketing airline gets part of the fare without the expense of operating a flight.
Botswana and Kenya have for long been trying to revive air links between Nairobi and Gaborone which were severed in the early 1990s due to unprofitability of the route.

via: daily nation.co.ke

Korean Air launches Jin Air Environmental Plan

Jin Air which was launched by Korean Air in 2008 proposed since 16th July 2009the implementation of an Environmental Management Plan for its one year anniversary. Jin Air has set a goal of becoming one of the leaders for the protection of the environment and reducing CO2 emissions with the use of the Environmental Management Plan. Jin Air has also announced the launch of its international operations as from 29th October 2009 and plans to become the best low-cost airline in Asia over the next decade. Korean Air’s Jin Air will take delivery of a Boeing 737-800 with the capacity of 180 passengers in Economy Class.

via: airvalid.co.uk

WestJet lands deal with Air France-KLM

Agreement will let European passengers travel to Canadian carrier's destinations with single ticket

Following the interline agreement signed on 4th February, Air France, KLM and WestJet announced that the 2 European companies will offer interline itineraries that connect their passengers into WestJet’s Canadian network. Initially, connections will be made through WestJet's Calgary and Vancouver gateways, with the option to continue on to Vancouver, Calgary or Edmonton.

This announcement supports WestJet’s strategy to increase connectivity, bring additional travellers to its network and offer more access for its guests to new destinations, while allowing Air France and KLM a great opportunity to strengthen their position in Canada.

via: The Globe and Mail.com

Environment: Air France-KLM rewarded

On 12 July in London, Air France-KLM was honoured by Airline Business in the Environment category of the Airline Strategy Awards. The Group’s strategy, which places the environment at the heart of its concerns and development, received the award.

The jury praised the quality of the Group’s communication on the subject of sustainable development and its participation in programmes to improve air traffic management and the compensation of CO2 emissions.

The criteria used for judging in the Environment category of the Airline Strategy Awards are the following:

• definition and implementation of a global environmental strategy;

• definition, development and implementation of measures giving rise to beneficial effects on the environment;

• participation, within the airline industry, in research programmes to find new technology or operational procedures to reduce the carbon footprint, such as alternative biofuels or ways to improve air traffic management.

The Airline Strategy Awards, held once a year, reward companies for their contribution to the air transport industry in various categories, including the environment.

via: corporate.airfrance.com

The last A310 service in CSA's fleet

Despite Delta Air Lines will increase nonstop New York - Prague flight from 3 to 5 effective 26OCT2009 (Mo, Tu, We, Fr and Su in Prague) apparent decrease on USA - Czech Republic market is visible due to DL Atlanta and CSA New York flight suspension.

Czech Airlines will withdraw from the last scheduled long haul Prague - New York flight at the end of October 2009. It means the end of the Airbus A310 service on the scheduled flights by any EU carrier as well.

Air France to launch A380 in November

Air France has confirmed it will launch A380 services this November, with Paris-New York being the first route served by the superjumbo.

The announcement means Air France will be the first carrier to offer transatlantic flights from Europe to the US using the A380. The aircraft will be configured for 538 passengers, with 80 business class seats (Affaires) and 106 economy seats (Voyageur) on the upper deck, and 9 first class seats (Première) plus a further 343 economy seats on the lower deck.

Air France is also due to be launching its new premium economy product later this year. In previous conversations the carrier has said that this new product will appear on its A380s from the delivery of its seventh superjumbo onwards, with the first six being retrofitted at a later date.

Equipped with four GP7200 engines specially designed by Engine, Air France has 12 Airbus A380s on order, four of which are due to start operating in winter 2009 and spring 2010. Air France's first A380 is MSN33.

Watch the video

The new SkyTeam livery

A few weeks ago, Air France welcomed a new Boeing 777-300ER into its fleet, with the SkyTeam livery.

Since then, this new aircraft, registration F-GZNE, has been sporting the alliance's colours all around the world. 

Watch the video

The new SkyTeam livery was revealed in April 2009 in Milan.

All SkyTeam alliance airlines will have had at least one of their aircraft repainted with the SkyTeam colours by the end of 2009.

via: corporate.airfrance.com

Delta tem voo inaugural São Paulo - Los Angeles

A Delta Air Lines começou a voar non stop entre São Paulo e Los Angeles na quarta-feira, 1º de julho.

Os voos partem de Guarulhos (DL234) todas as segundas, quartas e sextas, às 22h25, com chegada prevista em LA às 7h30, com tempo de 13 horas e 5 minutos de voo. O voo Los Angeles-São Paulo (DL233) é nas terças, quintas e domingos, partindo às 21h hora local, com chegada ao Brasil às 13h20, com tempo de 12 horas e 20 minutos de voo.

O voo é operado com um Boeing 767-300ER equipado com winglets na configuração de 181 assentos na classe Econômica e 36 na classe Business Elite - serviço de luxo premiado da Delta Air Lines.

Com o voo inaugural LA-Sydney, Austrália, também em 1º de julho, a Delta é umas das únicas companhias aéreas no mundo a voar para os cinco continentes.

Delta starts Los Angeles-Sydney flights

Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) on 1st July commenced its new Boeing 777-200 LR (Longer Range) route linking Los Angeles with Sydney. The new route will be operated daily.