Asiana Airlines, one of the two major airlines in South Korea is set to modify all its international routes that the airline travels to along with stopping operations for First Class cabins altogether before its planned sale, stated the airline on Tuesday (May 07).
According to the statement by the airline, Asiana will cancel all the non-profit routes, for instance, Incheon to Khabarovsk and Sakhalin in Russia and Delhi in India from July 08 onwards. Earlier the cancellation was due for September this year.
All of these cancellations and other measures are being taken as the airline is up for sale after struggling with a mounting heap of debt.
On the other hand, Business Suite cabins will replace the current first-class cabins with a good 30 percent to 40 percent price drop in fares set for the best-in-class seats on September 01, according to the airline.
The airline is currently planning to increase its fleet size as well. It will add 19 A350s and 15 A321neos to its existing fleet which has 85 planes that include six A380 superjumbo jets by 2023.
Whereas in 2017 the airline saw a net profit of 248 billion won, it incurred a 10.4 billion won loss last year. Currency-related issues, as well as an increase in jet fuel cost, are all reasons why the airline is going through such troubled times.
Creditors were supposed to infuse around 1.6 trillion won for the debt-ridden airline. While rival airline Korean Air has reportedly stated that it will also put a stoppage to conducting operations of First Class cabins from June onwards due to a reduction in demand for highest class seats.
Airlines traditionally have three travel classes namely ― First Class, Business Class, and Economy Class. The First-Class seats have been available only on the long-haul routes to Los Angeles, New York, Frankfurt, and three other destinations, as per a company spokesman.
