Korean Air named 2003 Cargo Airline of Year

Korean Air will be named Air Transport World (ATW) Cargo Airline of the Year for 2003 at an awards ceremony here next month.

According to ATW officials, “Korean Air Cargo has been a top-ranked carrier on a commercial basis for many years. Now it has put together all the pieces needed to be considered a world-class operation.”

Korean Air has been a significant force in air cargo for more than 30 years. The airline started its air cargo division in 1969 shortly after privatization, and its timing allowed it to take advantage of its location between North America  and burgeoning Asian economies to build a freight operation that now provides 32 percent of Korean Air’s operating revenues. For the last decade the airline has been one of the top three combination freight carriers in the world, with the largest freighter fleet of any transpacific airline --15 747s  including nine 747-400Fs plus four MD-11Fs-- providing 31 cities worldwide with regular freighter service.

In fact, Korean Air Cargo recently has been so boosted by China's booming growth that the airline expects to produce a 20 percent annual increase in its  airfreight traffic to that country. This potential inspired the creation of KAL-SkyBridge, tying Korean Air Cargo's Chinese freight flow into the shipping and trucking operation of its parent company, Hanjin, for seamless intermodal worldwide delivery in as little as five days.

Korean Air is a key member of SkyTeam Cargo in partnership with AeroMexico, Air France, Alitalia, Czech Airlines and Delta Air Lines, and is the grouping's largest freight carrier. And it is the Asian link of a new a US-focused air cargo marketing joint venture with Delta and Air France.

Korean Air’s cargo operation gained immensely from the opening of new cargo facilities at Incheon International Airport, where its 623,000-sq.-ft. complex is a duplicate in terms of technology and cargo flow of its new facility at New York JFK. With the growth potential of the Chinese market and Incheon's location between China and North America, Korean Air expects Incheon to become one of the world’s largest freight airports by 2010.

About Korean Air

Korean Air, with a fleet of 118, is one of the world’s top 20 airlines and operates almost 400 passenger flights per day to 84 cities in 29 countries. Korean Air is a founding member of SkyTeam, the global alliance – partnering AeroMexico, Air France, Alitalia, CSA Czech Airlines and Delta Air Lines.