Asiana Airlines Inc. (Korean: 아시아나항공; Hanja: 아시아나航空; RR: Asiana Hanggong KRX: 020560) is a South Korean airline headquartered in Seoul. In 2019, it accounted for 25% of South Korea's international aviation market and 20% of its domestic market. It maintains its international hub at Seoul's Incheon International Airport and its domestic hubs at Gimpo International Airport, also in Seoul, and Gimhae International Airport in Busan.
As a member of Star Alliance, it operates 90 international passenger, 14 domestic passnger, and 27 cargo routes throughout Asia, Europe, North America, and Oceania. As of December 2014, the company employed 10,183 people. Most of Asiana's pilots, ground staff, and flight attendants are based in Seoul. Asiana Airlines is the largest shareholder in Air Busan, a low-cost regional carrier joint venture with Busan Metropolitan City. The airline also holds 100% share of Air Seoul, a subsidiary and its own low-cost carrier.
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) and was originally known 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 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%).
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 the 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 to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.
Asiana Airlines has rapidly expanded since its establishment in 1988 to become a mid-sized global carrier with a current 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.
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.
Asiana began to focus on being an environmentally friendly company in the mid-1990s, leading to decisions such as completely banning in-flight smoking and cigarette sales in 1995. The company was awarded first-in-class certification by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for meeting the criteria for ISO 14001 in 1996. In 2001, Asiana Airlines was recognized for being the "first environmentally friendly company within the service industry" by the South Korean Ministry of Environment. Some of Asiana's other environmentally minded programs include an emissions measurement and reduction system; reducing pollution from ground facilities; and partnering with the Rainforest Alliance for coffee served on board.
Airline of the Year Awards:
In 2009, Air Transport World awarded Asiana its Airline of the Year award, a coveted and one of the most honorable awards in the airline industry.
In 2010, Asiana Airlines was named Airline of the Year by Skytrax at the 2010 World Airline Awards.
In 2011, Global Traveller awarded the airline 2011 Airline of the Year and the top airliner in six other categories.
In 2012, Business Traveller awarded the airline 2012 Best Overall Airline in the World.
With these achievements attained over four consecutive years, Asiana Airlines is recognised as a Golden Grand Slam Airline, the first airline to achieve this. Apart from this prestigious title, the company has received the Best Airline for Onboard Service and Flight Attendants for eight consecutive years, among other awards. Asiana Airlines is rated as a "5-Star" airline by Skytrax.
In April 2019, Asiana Airlines parent company, Kumho Asiana Group announced their plan to sell Asiana Airlines as a solution to its financial crisis.
The sale of Asiana Airlines began in July 2019. In June 2019, Aekyung Group, the parent company of Korean low-cost carrier Jeju Air, was considered as a strong candidate to take over. Korean Air's parent company, Hanjin Group, and SK Group also considered purchasing.
Asiana Airlines discontinued unprofitable routes throughout July 2019 to October 2019, including Seoul–Incheon to Chicago–O'Hare, Delhi, Khabarovsk and Sakhalinsk.
On 25 July 2019, Kumho Asiana Group, the parent company of Asiana Airlines, officially announced its intention to sell Asiana Airlines for an estimated price of 1.5 to 2.0 trillion won (US$1.26 to 1.68 billion). Asiana Airlines includes subsidiaries Air Busan, Air Seoul, Asiana IDT and other subsidiary companies. AeKyeong Group, the parent company of Jeju Air, has expressed interest in acquiring Asiana Airlines.
On 4 September 2019, 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.
Asiana Airlines has chosen to retire older aircraft, including Boeing 747-400s and Boeing 767-300s, allowing the airline to reduce debt and weakness.
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