Korean Air Cargo’s surging volumes are attributed to the increasing exports of IT products, such as LCDs, semi-conductors and cell phones.

Korean Air has posted record operating revenues in its second quarter 2010 ended 30 June 2010, thanks to the global economic recovery which spurred demand for both cargo and passenger traffic. The airline posted an operating revenue of 2.8 trillion KRW (US$2.4 billion) in the second quarter of 2010, a year-on-year increase of 36.7 per cent, the highest second-quarter growth in Korean Air’s history.

International cargo and passenger businesses remained the major revenue contributors for the airline, accounting for 36 and 47 per cent of the operating revenue respectively. Operating profit of the airline returned to the black from a loss of 127.3 billion KRW in the second quarter of 2009 to a surplus of 352.1 billion KRW during the reporting period. Profit margin was 12.4 per cent, a significant year-on-year improvement and another historic record.

For the six months ended 30 June 2010, the carrier recorded an operating revenue of 5.4 trillion KRW, up 25.3 per cent year-on-year, while operating profit reached 572.3 billion KRW, up from a loss of 120.7 billion KRW comparing with the first half of 2009.

The carrier’s surging cargo volumes were attributed to the increasing exports of IT products (such as LCDs, semi-conductors and cell phones), with cargo traffic reaching 2.5 billion FTK, up 26.2 per cent year-on-year, the highest quarterly growth record for Korean Air. Cargo traffic to Europe more than doubled, and cargo traffic to the Americas and Japan nearly doubled during the reporting period. Revenue generated from this segment posted a year-on-year increase of 86.4 per cent to one trillion KRW.

Korean Air said it will, “continue to expand its business prudently while enhancing the quality of its service.”