Korean Air Lines Co said yesterday that its new low-cost airline was set to begin operations next May with routes to regional destinations including China and Malaysia.
Korean Air said in a press release that its board on Friday approved plans to invest 20 billion won (US$21.5 million) to set up a separate corporate body for the carrier, tentatively called Air Korea, by the end of next month.
For its fleet, Air Korea plans to obtain three Airbus A300s and two Boeing 737s, Korean Air said.
The new airline will begin with routes to Shandong and Hanna provinces in China, destinations in Japan excluding Tokyo, Thailand and Malaysia, Korean Air said, taking advantage of opens skies agreements.
Korean Air, South Korea's largest airline, also said Air Korea "gradually plans to add other short-or-mid-distance destinations."
Maintenance and operation training were to be handled by Korean Air, it said.
"This outsourcing will ensure the operational safety of Air Korea, which has been indicated as a problem in some other low cost airlines," Korean Air said, without elaborating.
Korean Air said in June that it planned to launch a budget carrier within three years.
In yesterday's statement, Korean Air said that Air Korea's launch was meant to "proactively face the developing trends in the Asian airline industry."
A host of airlines have emerged in Asia in recent years providing low cost fares, often to resort destinations, though a series of crashes, including one in Thailand in September, have raised safety concerns.
After several years flying high as Asia’s best Nvidia Corp proxy, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is increasingly vying with other artificial intelligence (AI) stocks for investor attention. Stock traders are chasing a wider array of beneficiaries as mainstream usage of AI creates demand for hardware beyond the most-advanced chips TSMC makes for Nvidia. Subthemes from the deepening memory crunch to advances in robotics are also luring bids. At the same time, investment caps on single stocks are pushing funds to diversify, while retail investors long familiar with TSMC through its US depositary receipts are being offered a broader set of
TECH RELIANCE: Growth is increasingly reflecting an unequal K-shaped distribution, where technology sectors outperform and other industries struggle, an expert said Standard Chartered Bank has significantly raised its forecast for Taiwan’s economic growth to 9.5 percent this year, up from 7.6 percent previously, citing surging artificial intelligence (AI) demand driving exports, semiconductor production and investment. The upgrade reflects a sustained AI supercycle that continues to fuel demand for advanced chips and technology infrastructure, which form the backbone of Taiwan’s exports, the bank said in a report this week. “We raise our 2026 growth forecast to reflect a much stronger-than-expected first-quarter GDP figure,” Standard Chartered senior economist for greater China and Asia Tommy Wu (胡東安) said in the report. Driven largely by a 35.3 percent
Two of Taiwan’s international carriers, Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空), have retained the five-star airline rating awarded by international airline review organization Skytrax. Starlux was awarded the distinction for a second consecutive year, while EVA Air received it for the 11th straight year, Skytrax said in statements released yesterday and on Thursday last week, respectively. The five-star rating is considered one of the airline industry's highest honors and is awarded following professional audits of airline product and frontline service standards, Skytrax said. The ratings are based on in-depth assessments using unified global quality standards rather than customer review scores
Tokyo Electron's Taiwan unit today said in a written response that it respects the judicial process, takes the court ruling seriously and would not appeal in the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) trade secrets case. Last month, a court fined the Taiwan unit of Japan's Tokyo Electron NT$150 million (US$4.74 million) in a case involving trade secrets related to TSMC's sensitive chip technology.
RSS