Media
Media
FLAG carrier Korean Air has announced its highest increase ever in operating profit - up 33.3 fold - to KRW220.2 billion (US$198.07 million) from a loss of KRW673.9 billion in the first quarter of 2009.
Cargo capacity increased 10.8 per cent to three billion tonne kilometres and traffic was up by 21 per cent to 2.3 million tonne kilometres. Freight revenue increased 57 per cent year on year, with Chinese and Japanese routes reaching new highs, even exceeding 2008 levels. Cargo revenue from Korea alone soared 134 per cent, mostly because of soaring IT exports.
The cargo business is expected to continue to prosper this year with double-digit growth in operating revenue expected, said the Korean Air statement, thanks to the export of LCDs, semi-conductors and mobile phones. Much is expected from high intra-Asian demand growth as well as trade between Korea, India and the EU.
Much is dependent on the stability in the US exchange rate and fuel costs. Korean Air sees the cargo business as a strong growth driver in 2010.
Surging international passenger growth in Korea's outbound traffic was said to be responsible for the much of the good news, as well as the rising demand for premium class services in the first quarter of 2010.
The airline posted an operating revenue of KRW2,599 trillion a year-on-year increase of 14.8 per cent while its international passenger businesses produced 55 per cent of the revenue while cargo contributed 33 per cent.
"With the turnaround of the aviation industry, Korean Air has set high goals for the coming 10 years, with a target of reaching 140 geographical destinations, 20 million passengers and 2.5 million tons of cargo carried in 2019, the airline's 50th anniversary year," said the statement.
"In terms of fleet size, Korean Air targets to operate 132 aircraft in 2010 (126 as of March 2010). The airline has also announced orders to add Boeing 787s and Airbus 380s to its fleet mix in the coming years," said the statement.
(Source: www.schednet.com)
qq.com