Impact of COVID-19... Korean Air Reduces US Route Capacity for March

US Raises South Korea Travel Alert to Level 3... "Demand Decline Inevitable"
Long-Haul Market Expected to Shrink Following Short-Haul Market

[Asia Economy Reporter Yu Je-hoon] Korean Air will reduce supply on some North American routes for the month of March. This measure comes in response to weakened demand due to the domestic spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). In particular, as the U.S. Department of State and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have raised travel advisories for Korea to 'Level 3 (Avoid Travel),' this trend is expected to continue for the time being.

Korean Air announced on the 28th that it will implement aircraft changes and flight reductions on some North American routes next month. This is the first time since the COVID-19 outbreak that Korean Air has reduced flights on North American routes, which are a major source of revenue. North American routes account for about 29% of Korean Air's revenue (based on last year's fourth quarter).

The routes subject to reduction are ▲Incheon~San Francisco (March 7?25) ▲Incheon~Honolulu (March 2?27) ▲Incheon~Boston (March 17?28). For the San Francisco and Honolulu routes, a total of 12 round-trip flights will be cut, and the Boston route will be reduced from five flights per week to three flights per week during the period.

There are also routes where supply will be reduced through aircraft changes. The Incheon~Los Angeles route (March 2?14) will replace the existing Korean Air superjumbo A380 (407 seats) with B737-8i (368 seats) and B777-300ER (277 seats/291 seats). Additionally, the New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Atlanta, Chicago, and Washington routes will operate with some aircraft changes throughout March.

Korean Air is not the only airline reducing supply. Asiana Airlines has already suspended and reduced flights on European routes. The Incheon~Venice route will be suspended from the 4th of next month, and the Incheon~Rome and Barcelona routes will operate with reduced flights.

The reason the two major airlines are reducing long-haul routes, which are their main sources of revenue, is that major countries in North America and Europe have raised travel advisories for Korea or strengthened entry restrictions. Since North American and European routes have long been dominated by the two major airlines, a decline in profitability is inevitable.

Meanwhile, as passenger anxiety spreads, Korean Air has made temperature checks mandatory on all flights to North America departing from Incheon starting with flight KE017 from Incheon to Los Angeles this afternoon. Additionally, extra in-flight disinfection will be conducted. As a result, passengers exhibiting a fever of 37.5 degrees Celsius or higher will not be allowed to board flights to North America. A Korean Air official stated, "We will gradually expand these measures to other routes as well."

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