Tag: Asiana Airlines

I did not know it was that easy to open one of the airplane doors, hopefully something is done to where the doors are not so easy to open to prevent something like this from happening again:

A man in his 30s suspected of opening an emergency exit door mid-air on an Asiana Airlines plane appears at the Daegu District Court for questioning on May 28, 2023. The plane carrying 194 passengers landed safely, but some panicked passengers showed symptoms of breathing difficulties and were immediately taken to a hospital. (Yonhap)

A local court issued a warrant Sunday to arrest a passenger who opened an emergency exit door on board an Asiana Airlines flight right before landing in the southeastern city of Daegu last week.

The 33-year-old man, only identified by his surname Lee, was detained by police Friday on suspicions of opening the door 213 meters above ground just minutes before landing at Daegu International Airport in Daegu, 237 kilometers southeast of Seoul.

The Daegu District Court granted the request for an arrest warrant for alleged violation of the aviation security law, citing the seriousness of his case and the risk of flight.

Arriving at the court for questioning earlier in the day, the suspect said he was “very sorry to the kids” that were on the plane when asked by reporters whether he was aware of the danger of opening the door.

The man earlier told police officials that he had been under a lot of stress after losing his job recently and wanted to get out of the plane as he felt suffocated.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It looks like someone has finally decided to purchase Asiana Airlines, but it took a huge government investment to make it happen:

Korean Air Lines, the country’s largest carrier, will acquire cash-strapped rival Asiana Airlines with the help of the state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB).

The new airline will become the world’s No. 7 carrier by capacity to transport passengers and cargo, according to 2019 IATA numbersprovided by KDB.  

On Monday, the bank announced that it will indirectly provide financing to Korean Air Lines, which will use those funds and additional proceeds from a stock sale to buy a significant stake in Asiana Airlines.  

In the complex transaction, KDB will invest 500 billion won ($451.6 million) in Hanjin KAL and buy 300 billion won of the company’s exchangeable bonds. Hanjin KAL, which already owns 29.27 percent of Korean Air Lines, will buy 730 billion won of a 2.5-trillion-won share offering by the airline.  

The carrier will then use 1.8 trillion won of the newly raised capital to become the biggest shareholder of Asiana Airlines, by purchasing 1.5 trillion won of the airline’s new shares and 300 billion worth of perpetual bonds.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

It looks like the deal to acquire Asiana Airlines may fall through because of the ongoing pandemic:

Hyundai Development Company’s (HDC) planned takeover of Asiana Airlines appears to be on the brink of collapse, following the former’s official request for another round of due diligence on the cash-squeezed air carrier, aviation industry officials and analysts said Monday. 

HDC is putting the blame for the delay in negotiations on Kumho Industrial, which had decided to sell its airline unit, claiming that the latter has failed to send formal data related to the carrier’s financial status, despite repeated requests since early April.

This was seen by some industry officials as HDC making excuses in preparation for abandoning its planned acquisition of the indebted carrier, while others speculated that HDC may be moving to reduce the price.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Asiana was already having a tough time financially before the current pandemic, it will be interesting to see if the airline is able to survive this:

Korea’s second-largest airline has indefinitely extended mass furloughs of its employees, requiring more than 8,000 workers to take unpaid leave 15 days each month as the carrier struggles to stay financially afloat.

Asiana Airlines announced Sunday that it would require all staff to take at least 15 days of unpaid leave during the month of May, and every subsequent month “until business normalizes.” Last month, it announced the same policy for April.

In an industry with massive fixed costs such as leased planes and airport fees, airlines have been struggling to keep their employees on the payroll as the coronavirus pandemic wreaks havoc on international travel. The number of travelers using international flights in and out of Korea during the first week of April has plummeted by 97 percent on-year.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but Asiana Airlines said the pandemic has caused 70% of their workforce to have nothing to do.

Asiana Airlines was struggling even before this coronavirus outbreak which is making things even harder for the airline:

Asiana Airlines Inc., South Korea’s second-biggest airline, on Tuesday said all of its employees will take unpaid leave as air travel demand has plummeted due to the spreading coronavirus outbreak.

Some of about 10,500 employees are set to take 10 days of unpaid leave starting Wednesday. Others will join the cost-cutting measure later in a way that does not affect flights.

Asiana had 4,078 crew members as of Feb. 1, accounting for 39 percent of its total workforce of 10,538, according to the airline.

Asiana Airlines also said it will cut wages of its CEO, executives and heads of departments by 40 percent, 30 percent and 20 percent, respectively.

“We are desperately trying to come up with and implement measures to overcome a crisis of a massive operating loss this year,” Asiana Chief Executive Han Chang-soo said in a statement.

For 2019, Asiana’s net losses widened to 672.6 billion won (US$565.3 million) from 96.2 billion won a year earlier, due mainly to a sharp decline in travel on Japanese routes.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but it is interesting that Asiana Airlines is losing money before the coronavirus crisis from a sharp decline on Japanese travel routes. The Korean government has been promoting anti-Japanese sentiment that is in turn destroying one of their biggest airlines.

It looks like a new owner for Asiana Airlines is getting closer to becoming a reality:

The stock prices of Asiana Airlines Inc. and its affiliates advanced Friday after three consortia joined a final auction to acquire the country’s second-biggest airline. 

Asiana shares jumped 9.6 percent to 5,820 won, information and technology solutions provider Asiana IDT Inc. soared by nearly the daily limit of 30 percent to 22,650 won and low-cost carrier Air Busan Co. soared 12 percent to 7,150 won.

The broader KOSPI erased earlier gains to end in negative territory, falling 0.3 percent to 2,137.23.

On Thursday, the Aekyung-Stone Bridge Capital consortium, the consortium of Hyundai Development Co. (HDC) and Mirae Asset Daewoo, and the consortium of the Korea Corporate Governance Improvement (KCGI) and BankerStreet private equity funds submitted their final bids to Credit Suisse, the sole lead manager of the deal. 

Aekyung and HDC reportedly presented the acquisition prices of around 1.5 trillion won (US$1.3 billion) and about 2.5 trillion won, respectively, for the country’s second-biggest airline after Korean Air Lines Co.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

If anyone has any spare cash lying around you could buy Asiana Airlines this week:

Asiana Airlines is expected to be up for sale as early as Thursday. 

Kumho Industrial, Asiana’s biggest shareholder, and the airline’s credit holders plan to start the sale process on Thursday or Friday. They are looking to find a buyer and sign a main contract by the end of this year. 

Market observers presume it will take one trillion won to two-point-five trillion won to buy South Korea’s second largest airline. Some local conglomerates are being mentioned as potential bidders, including SK, Hanwha, CJ and Aekyung. 

Earlier this year, the Asiana’s creditors led by the state-owned Korea Development Bank(KDB) decided to provide one-point-73 trillion won in financial assistance to help normalize the cash-strapped airline, setting a goal to sell it by year-end.

KBS World Radio

We could be seeing the beginning of the end of Asiana Airlines:

Thirty-one years and two months ago, Asiana Airlines was founded. Very soon, it could be history after its controlling shareholder said it would be selling off the debt-laden carrier.

Asiana Airlines was formed in 1988, the year the Olympic Games were held in Seoul, as Seoul Air International. 

The Chun Doo Hwan government in February 1988 approved the Kumho Group, as it was known at the time, to form the country’s second private airline. The market had been monopolized by Korean Air.

The Summer Games put Korea on the global map, but there was a shortage of flights to transport the visitors. In August 1988, Asiana inaugurated its first service and changed its name in December.

While the airline first operated with a single Boeing 737, it enjoyed the Golden Age of travel in the 1990s along with its competitor as the government lifted the overseas travel ban, and Koreans started going abroad en masse.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more about Asiana Airlines at the link. I like flying Korean Air better than Asiana Airlines, but I still thought it was a good airline. I would rather fly Asiana than any of the major US airlines.

This photo provided by South Korea’s No. 2 air carrier Asiana Airlines Inc. on April 17, 2018, shows actress Lee Soo-min in an Asiana stewardess uniform. Asiana said it has signed a two-year modeling contract with the high school sophomore. (Yonhap)

Here is another case of people being caught smuggling gold into South Korea in their underwear:

Two Vietnamese flight attendants working for Asiana Airlines, Korea’s second largest carrier, have been detained after trying to smuggle 19 kilograms of gold into the country, the Korea Customs Service (KCS) said Thursday.

According to the KCS Incheon office, the attendants were concealing 1-kilogram-gold bars ― 10 on one and nine on the other ― in their underwear when they arrived at Incheon International Airport on June 5 from Vietnam.

The KCS said this was not their first smuggling attempt, saying it has confirmed that the two succeeded in smuggling 13 kilograms of gold into Korea on three occasions in April.

They will face charges of attempting to smuggle 32 kilograms of gold, worth about 1.5 billion won ($1.33 million), into the country.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link, but I wonder if the flight attendants were dressed like this?

https://www.rokdrop.net/2017/05/over-2000-kilograms-of-gold-caught-hidden-in-the-private-parts-of-51-koreans/