The South Korean government reportedly is under fire at home for proposing to sell Incheon International Airport, near Seoul at a price described as “too low” by critics – at an estimated 50 per cent of market value. As part of its plans to advance staterun enterprises, the Lee Myung-bak government is moving to privatise the Incheon hub by putting up for sale 49 per cent of its stake for approximately US$504 million. … [Read more...] about SOUTH KOREA: S Korean gov’t under fire for Incheon sale plan

Korean Air Lines (KAL) Cargo has announced the launch of a scheduled B747-400 freighter service to the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi. The service will operate twice-weekly to Hanoi via Singapore from Seoul Incheon with the return routed direct from Hanoi to Incheon. The carrier pointed to the presence of MNCs like Canon, Nike and Toyota which it said were generating air cargo export traffic through Hanoi ranging from electronics to textiles. … [Read more...] about SOUTH KOREA: Korean Air launches Hanoi service

Korean Air has terminated its involvement in the SkyTeam joint venture cargo sales alliance that had been formed with SkyTeam partners Delta and Air France. The Asian carrier’s withdrawal effectively ended the joint venture after Delta Cargo decided to pull out late last year. Korean will now sell its cargo capacity in the US and Canadian market through its own offices following a revamp of its sales network creating one western and one eastern division. The SkyTeam joint venture … [Read more...] about SOUTH KOREA: Korean pulls out of SkyTeam cargo alliance

Airline executives expect improved results and a rebound in cargo volumes in the coming year, a “turning point” for a sector closely linked to economic trends, a survey released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) showed. The survey indicated that confidence had grown markedly among major carriers in Asia, Europe and the Americas. “This does look like a turning point,” IATA said of the quarterly business confidence poll. A return to economic … [Read more...] about MALAYSIA: Airline execs confidence begins to rise: IATA

Government stimulus packages in major Asia-Pacific economies are driving production increases and fueling air cargo growth according to the most recent reports released by The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and Association of Asia-Pacific Airlines (AAPA). The region’s banking system is relatively strong and the region’s consumers are not as burdened by debt as those in Europe and the US, said IATA. But the association’s director general and … [Read more...] about MALAYSIA: Airline bodies warn early recovery still fragile

MASkargo, the air cargo subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines, has said that once its contract on the four Boeing 747-200F’s it wet leases from Air Atlanta Icelandic expires next year it hopes to acquire more modern and larger aircraft, possibly either 747-400’s or Airbus A330’s, to boost its capacity. The carrier had laid up one of its 747’s in March due to plummeting volumes, but this has since returned to service following early signs of a recovery. … [Read more...] about MALAYSIA: MASkargo charts expansion plans