Asiana Airlines

Founding

Korean Air, which was acquired by Hanjin Transportation in 1969, had a monopoly on the South Korean airline industry until the establishment of Asiana in 1988. Asiana's formation did not come about as a policy initiative favoring liberalized market conditions, but rather because of pressure from other chaebols and interests that wanted to compete. It was formed by the Kumho Asiana Group (formerly Kumho Group) as Seoul Air International. Asiana was established on 17 February 1988 and started operations in December 1988 with flights to Busan. As of 2007, the airline was owned by domestic private investors (30.53%), Kumho Industrial (29.51%), Kumho Petrochemical (15.05%), foreign investors (11.9%), Korea Development Bank (7.18%), and others (5.83%).

Beginning regular service

Asiana began operations in December 1988, using Boeing 737 Classic aircraft, with flights to Busan and Gwangju. In 1989, Asiana began regular services to Jeju City, Gwangju, and Daegu, and later that same year, began international chartered flights to Sendai in Japan. In 1990, Asiana began its first scheduled international services to the Japanese cities of Tokyo, Nagoya, Sendai, and Fukuoka. In the same year, Asiana had nine Boeing 747-400s, 20 Boeing 767-300s, and eight Boeing 737-400s. In early 1991, Asiana began services to Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taipei. Transpacific flights to Los Angeles began in December 1991 with a Boeing 747-400 Combi. Services to Vienna, Brussels, and Honolulu began in the mid-1990s. In 1993, Asiana began services in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.

Expansion as a global carrier and joining Star Alliance

Asiana Airlines has rapidly expanded since its establishment in 1988 to become a mid-sized global carrier with a fleet of 85 aircraft. In December 1998, the airline operated an aircraft on behalf of the president of South Korea for the first time. The airline was listed in KOSDAQ In December 1999. On 28 January 2003, the airline became a full Star Alliance member, expanding its worldwide network and global brand. In 2004, the airline added Airbus A330s and the Boeing 777-200ERs to its fleet and expanded its routes into mainland China. Currently, it provides international services to 71 cities in 23 countries on 91 routes and domestic services to 12 cities on 14 routes. It also provides international cargo services to 29 cities in 14 countries on 28 routes by Asiana Cargo, the airline's freight division. In 2012, the airline had net sales of US$5.3 billion.

New corporate identity

In February 2006, Asiana Airlines modernized its corporate identity for unification with those of other divisions of its parent company, the Kumho Asiana Group. The names of the travel classes have changed from first, business, and economy classes to first, business, and travel classes, respectively, and the colors of the travel classes have changed to yellow, blue, and red for first, business, and travel, respectively. New uniforms were also created for the crew.

Financial crisis

In April 2019, Asiana Airlines' parent company, Kumho Asiana Group, announced its plan to sell Asiana Airlines as a solution to its financial crisis. Asiana Airlines discontinued several unprofitable routes in the summer and fall of 2019 and, that September, the Aekyung Group, Mirae Asset Daewoo, and Korea Corporate Governance Improvement applied a letter of intent to acquire Asiana Airlines. On 12 November, a consortium of HDC Hyundai Development Company and Mirae Asset Daewoo was selected as the preferred bidder. The proposed purchase was approved in South Korea, China, Kazakhstan, Turkey, the United States, and Uzbekistan, but the merger was canceled by Korea Development Bank, the primary creditor for Asiana Airlines, and Kumho Asiana Group. Asiana Airlines would be run by creditors until a new owner was approved by the South Korean government.

Asiana Airlines has chosen to retire older aircraft, including Boeing 747-400s and Boeing 767-300s, allowing the airline to reduce debt and weakness.

Merger with Korean Air

On 16 November 2020, the Government of the Republic of Korea announced a policy of merging Asiana Airlines with Korean Air, which would acquire a 30.77% stake in Asiana from Korea Development Bank. The Korean state-run bank would invest 800 billion won (US$600 million) to Hanjin KAL, the holding company of Korean Air, to fund the merger. The two airlines would operate as separate brands until integration is complete. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport planned to integrate subsidiaries Air Busan, Air Seoul, and Jin Air into a new low-cost airline. The combined low-cost carrier will focus on regional airports within South Korea and flying regional Asia-Pacific routes.

2021

In March 2021, Korean Air announced it would delay the merger with Asiana Airlines due to a delay in antitrust approval from the government and six foreign authorities (China, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States, and Vietnam). Korean Air will operate Asiana Airlines as a subsidiary for the next two years, after which it will combine its operations, IT, and other systems into a single system until 2024. Once the merger is complete, Asiana Airlines could become a member of SkyTeam. According to The Korea Times, only Turkey has approved the antitrust deal so far.

Destinations

Asiana Airlines serves destinations on five continents, with an Asian network that includes important cities in the China, Japan, Southeast Asia, and Central Asia. The airline serves several gateway cities in North America and Europe while retaining limited coverage of Oceania. Asiana Cargo, the airline's former cargo subsidiary, also had a wide network, especially in Europe, Asia, and the United States.

Asiana decided to launch Air Seoul, the airline's second subsidiary and its low-cost carrier, based in Incheon International Airport, and transfer some of its unprofitable routes to the subsidiary in November 2016.

Codeshare agreements

Asiana Airlines codeshares with these airlines:

Interline agreements

Asiana Airlines has interline agreements with the following airlines:

Accidents and incidents

On 26 July 1993, Asiana Airlines Flight 733, a Boeing 737-500 (HL7229) crashed in poor weather about 10 kilometers short of the runway in Mokpo while making its third landing attempt on runway 06 at Mokpo Airport. Two of the six crew members and 66 of the 110 passengers on board were killed.

On 11 November 1998, an Asiana Airlines Boeing 747-400 was attempting a U-turn in the gate area of Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport when the tip of its wing collided with the tail of an Ilyushin Il-62M belonging to Aeroflot. No one was injured. Asiana was subsequently sued by Aeroflot, and the Il-62M was written off.

On 9 June 2006, Asiana Airlines Flight 8942 (Airbus A321-131) from Jeju International Airport to Gimpo International Airport encountered hail during its approach to Gimpo Airport, damaging the cockpit and radome. There were no injuries. Asiana Airlines attempted to reward the pilots, but it was discovered that the pilots had intentionally entered the clouds. In addition, when a similar accident occurred a year before this one, a pilot who was a member of a union was disciplined, but since the pilots in this accident were not members of a union, controversy arose and the rewards were eventually canceled.

On 28 July 2011, Asiana Airlines Cargo Flight 991, a Boeing 747-400F bound for Shanghai Pudong International Airport from Incheon International Airport, crashed into the East China Sea off Jeju Island, South Korea, after reporting a fire in the cargo compartment. Both pilots were killed.

On 6 July 2013, Asiana Airlines Flight 214, a Boeing 777-200ER (HL7742), crashed short of the runway while landing at San Francisco International Airport, due to pilot error, killing three of the 307 passengers on board. Two of the fatally injured passengers were not wearing their seat belts and were ejected from the aircraft during the crash. The third died in hospital a week after the incident as a result of her injuries. On 25 February 2014, Asiana Airlines was fined $500,000 by the U.S. Department of Transportation for "failing to promptly contact passengers' families and keep them informed about their loved ones" during and after the crash.

On 14 April 2015, Asiana Airlines Flight 162, an Airbus A320 (HL7762), crash landed short of the runway at Hiroshima Airport, Japan. The aircraft spun 180 degrees and eventually stopped on the runway with a fractured wing, damage to the left engine, and all landing gear collapsed. The aircraft was operating an international scheduled passenger flight from Incheon International Airport, Seoul, South Korea. More than 20 of the 82 people on board were injured. The aircraft was written off.