Korean Air Reports Operating Profit of 290.9 Billion KRW Last Year, Down 56% Year-on-Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Yu Je-hoon] Korean Air announced on the 6th that its consolidated operating profit for last year was preliminarily estimated at 290.9 billion KRW, a 56.4% decrease compared to the same period last year.

During the same period, sales decreased by 2.8% to 12.3 trillion KRW. The net loss continued at 570.8 billion KRW.

In the passenger sector, despite adverse factors such as the boycott of travel to Japan due to Korea-Japan tensions and instability in Hong Kong, Korean Air strengthened sales of alternative routes such as Southeast Asia and Oceania, and transportation performance increased by 3.8% thanks to the joint venture (JV) effect with Delta Air Lines.

In the cargo sector, transportation performance decreased by 9.8% due to a continued decline in cargo volume caused by the US-China trade dispute and global economic downturn.

Korean Air explained, "Despite adverse conditions such as increased costs due to minimum wage hikes and exchange rate rises, as well as decreased demand on short-haul routes, we recorded a profit based on attracting demand for medium- and long-haul routes, strengthening premium services, and operating flexible cargo routes."

Korean Air expects this year's business environment to be challenging as well. Adverse factors such as the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (Wuhan pneumonia) are piling up.

Accordingly, Korean Air plans to strengthen its North American routes based on the JV with Delta Air Lines in the passenger sector, while enhancing network competitiveness and securing profitability through launching new medium- and long-haul routes.

Additionally, Korean Air intends to improve customer convenience by revamping its website, enhancing mobile services, and expanding cooperation through business partnerships with Kakao this year.

In the cargo sector, Korean Air plans to flexibly adjust supply and demand in response to the easing of the US-China trade dispute and expected demand recovery, while focusing on growth markets such as Southeast Asia and Latin America.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.