South Korea Asiana Airlines Former Seoul Airlines Hubs At Gimpo And Incheon International Airports

Asiana Airlines shares the position of a major airline in South Korea along with Korean Air. It is a Seoul based airline which was originally known by the name of Seoul Airlines. Asiana Airlines is headquartered at Incheon International Airport which also happens to be the airline’s overseas hub while its domestic hub is located at Gimpo International Airport. Asiana has extended its services to 12 domestic destinations and 73 international destinations. It operates in 17 countries and is currently a member of Star Alliance.

Asiana’s operations began in December, 1988 with flights to Busan after it was established on 17th February, 1988. This airline was established as a means to implement the policy of the South Korean Government to create a second flag carrier. This airline was formed by the Kumho Group. The different shareholders of Asiana Airline include private investors, Kumho International, Kumho Petrochemical, foreign investors, Korea Development Bank and a few others.

In February 2006, the airline chose to modernize its corporate identity to complement the existing culture of the other divisions of the Kumho Asiana Group. Asiana had changed the name of the Economy Class to Travel class while the other two classes remained the same as First and Business classes. Different classes have also been assigned different colors. Yellow, Blue and Red colors signify the First, second and travel classes respectively. Asiana Airlines has Codeshare agreements with Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Turkish Airlines, US Airways and a few others.

Asiana has air- crafts in its fleet that cover a number of routes and have the capability to carry varied number of travelers. For example, Boeing 737-400 and Boeing 737-500 serve only the domestic routes while Boeing 747-400 Combi is meant for International Long Haul. The average age of Asiana Airlines was calculated as 7.6 years in March, 2008. The Airline’s freight division called the Asiana Cargo operates through 747F and 767F freighter aircraft to connect destinations at Asia, North America and Europe.

The airline met with its first accident on July 26, 1993 when Flight 733 B737-500 struck high ground while trying to make a third landing attempt. Unfortunately, it landed 4 km away from the runway at Mokpo killing 2 crew members and 66 passengers. On 11th November 1998, Aeroflot sued Asiana Asiana Airlines B747 embedded its wingtip in the tail of an Aeroflot Ilyushin Il-62 while trying to take a U- Turn in the gate area of Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. A major accident would have also taken place on June 9, 2006 when Flight 8942 A321-100 had its radar, nose cone and front cockpit windows destroyed while flying through a hailstorm. But ultimately the aircraft managed to land safely At Gimpo Airport.

Asiana’s honor increased on April 18, 2007 when Skytrax awarded it a 5- star rating. This was an accolade shared with Kingfisher Airlines, Qatar Airways, Malaysia Airlines, Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific. As per Edward Plaisted of Skytrax achieving this status is not that simple which can be made out from the fact that very few airlines have been listed in this category. He further justifies the award by explaining that it is the consistency in the quality of product and customer service that have earned this accolade to Asiana Airlines. Asiana Airlines