Korean Air reports December 2005 Operating Results

Korean Air has reported international cargo loads of 75.8% during December 2005, which remained stable compared to the previous year. Passenger loads were up 0.3 percentage points from a year ago on the back of increased traffic to the Americas and Oceania.

While international cargo capacity and traffic declined 3.2% and 4.8% due to the pilot's strike, China continued to be the growth engine of Korean Air's cargo business, recording an increase in traffic of 36.9% from a year ago. The growth was due to the strong demand for the outbound transportation of LCD monitors and mobile phones. The load factor to the Americas was down 1.3 percentage points year-on-year on the back of a reduction in traffic. Despite year-long growth, FTK (freight tonne kilometer) on the European route declined 5.7% on a 5.1% capacity cut. Traffic on the Japan route decreased by 6.1%, even though capacity was up 6.9% due to new routes, such as Incheon-Nagoya, resulting a drop in load factor.

International passenger traffic filled 69.8% of available seats, representing a 0.3 percentage point increase from the same period in 2004. Oceania recorded a load factor of 77.7%, up 5.6 percentage points year-on-year due to strong traffic to Guam. Load factor and traffic on the Americas route rose 2 percentage points and 3.4% respectively, as more travelers flew during the holiday season. The China route experienced lower year-on-year traffic and recorded 6.6% lower RPK due to unusually cold weather. Traffic on the Japan route was marginally higher than the same period last year.

Domestic routes, hit the hardest by the pilot's strike, managed to fill 56.5% of available seats by carrying 18.9% less RPK (Revenue Passenger Kilometer) on a 16.4% capacity reduction.

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