Jeong Hong-geun, CEO of T'way Air, "Introducing 20 Large Aircraft... Targeting 3 Trillion KRW in Sales by 2027"

Introduction of A330-300... Total of 3 Units Secured This Year
"Reallocation of Traffic Rights... High Interest in Long-Haul Routes"

Jung Hong-geun, CEO of T'way Air
Photo by Yoo Hyun-seok

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] T'way Air has set a goal to achieve sales of 3 trillion won by 2027 by expanding its North America and Europe routes through the introduction of large aircraft.

Jung Hong-geun, CEO of T'way Air, stated at a press conference held on the 17th inside the company's A330-300 aircraft at Gimpo Airport, "We will operate 20 large aircraft and 30 small to medium-sized aircraft," revealing the plan.

T'way introduced its first large aircraft, the A330-300, last month. It plans to deploy it on the Gimpo-Jeju route starting at the end of this month. Following that, it is considering operating routes to Singapore in May, Croatia in July, and Australia in winter. Additionally, two more aircraft will be introduced sequentially by May, bringing the total to three in the first half of the year.

CEO Jung explained that the reason for introducing large aircraft is for continuous growth. He said, "The aircraft types mainly used by domestic low-cost carriers (LCCs) have distance limitations. Our 30 small aircraft are sufficient for domestic, Southeast Asia, Japan, and China routes, but we decided to introduce large aircraft because we cannot stop growing here."

In particular, CEO Jung emphasized that the timing of introducing large aircraft was favorable in many ways. The merger of Korean Air and Asiana Airlines made transport rights subject to redistribution, and the Omicron variant of COVID-19 is subsiding. He explained, "The merger of Korean Air and Asiana Airlines made 26 transport rights subject to redistribution, and we are very interested in long-haul routes. It is expected that prime route transport rights such as Paris, London, and Barcelona will be allocated to us."

The large aircraft 'A330-300' of T'way Air.
Photo by Yoo Hyun-seok

Along with this, T'way expects to strengthen its cargo transportation business. The A330-300 can transport about 15 to 20 tons of cargo in the 'belly cargo' (passenger aircraft cargo hold). T'way has signed a supply contract for air cargo containers called 'ULD' with a subsidiary of Germany's Lufthansa. It will also obtain approval for transporting dangerous goods by air. He said, "If the recovery speed of COVID-19 is slower than expected, we have also completed reviewing options to use the aircraft as cargo planes."

T'way expects to return to profitability this year if air passenger demand recovers rapidly. He said, "If the aircraft utilization rate exceeds 90% from July, a profit of 50 billion won is possible this year. On the other hand, if delayed, a loss of 30 billion to 100 billion won is expected."

Meanwhile, T'way Air is currently conducting a paid-in capital increase through a rights offering and a general public offering of forfeited shares worth 119 billion won. The participation of the largest shareholder in the capital increase has not yet been confirmed, raising concerns about share dilution. CEO Jung said, "We plan to have the largest shareholder as well as third-party institutions participate in the capital increase as much as possible," adding, "An official announcement will be made early next month."

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