Go to contents

77 Percent of KAL International Cargo Flights Cancelled

Posted December. 09, 2005 07:38,   

한국어

As Korean Air entered the first day of its pilot union strike on December 8, 53 percent of the airline’s domestic and international passenger and cargo flights were cancelled, wreaking havoc with travelers and businesses.

On December 9, the second day of the strike, the cancellation rate is expected to increase to 63 percent, which will not only increase the discomfort of travelers, but also injure export businesses anticipating a Christmas and year-end procurement surge from markets overseas.

According to the Ministry of Construction and Transportation, Labor Ministry, and KAL, the international cargo cancellation rate for the first day of the strike reached 77 percent, bringing export losses for December 8 alone to 50 billion won.

Starting on the Incheon-Nagoya, Japan route at 8:25 a.m., 30 out of 154 international passenger airliners did not take off. Starting with the Incheon-Wien (Austria)-Copenhagen route at 3:10 a.m., 24 out of 31 international freight jet routes were disabled by the strike.

Amidst the chaos, the strike is expected to be prolonged as both parties are yet to reach a single official negotiation agreement.



Kwang-Hyun Kim Hee-Jae Park kkh@donga.com min07@donga.com