Air Incheon to contemplate widebody freighter orders after Asiana cargo buy By Reuters

(Corrects paragraph 6 to mirror Air Incheon does plan to promote house on to logistics companies)

By Lisa Barrington

SEOUL (Reuters) -Air Incheon, set to develop into South Korea’s second-biggest freight service as soon as a deal to purchase Asiana Airways’ cargo unit is finalised, will think about each Boeing (NYSE:) and Airbus freighters to refresh the widebody fleet, its CEO stated.

The EU competitors regulator final month accepted Air Incheon, a small cargo-only service with 4 Boeing 737s, as the popular bidder to purchase Asiana’s cargo enterprise, as a situation of approval for it to merge with Korean Air Traces.

The acquisition for an undisclosed sum would switch Asiana’s fleet, employees, prospects and visitors rights to Air Incheon, which relies at Incheon airport, South Korea’s fundamental worldwide gateway and the world’s fifth-busiest cargo airport. Asiana operates 11 Boeing 767 and 747 freighters to 25 cities in 12 international locations.

The acquisition will embody the rights to fly to main Chinese language export hubs like Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong, and to the U.S., Air Incheon CEO Stanley Seunghwan Lee instructed Reuters in an interview this week.

The intention is to develop into a worldwide constitution and wet-lease supplier alongside promoting house on to logistics companies, he added.

Lee plans to step by step replace Asiana’s ageing widebody fleet, a activity sophisticated by a worldwide plane scarcity and delayed U.S. approval for Boeing 777-300ER passenger-to-freighter conversions.

“Air Incheon can operate the current Asiana fleet at least five or seven years,” he stated.

Lee is speaking to lessors and producers about transformed Boeing 777-300ERs, Boeing 777 manufacturing unit freighters, or Airbus A350 freighters, which the European planemaker expects to enter service in 2026.

The Asiana Pilot Union (APU) has stated it’s sad with Air Incheon as most popular bidder, saying it’s too small to compete with Korean Air.

The APU, which additionally opposes Korean Air shopping for Asiana, stated greater than 100 Asiana cargo pilots had, as of Thursday, submitted letters indicating they are going to resign if transferred. 

Lee stated Air Incheon wants the cooperation and expertise of Asiana employees and can assure the identical wage and comparable advantages.

Korean Air had obtained a inexperienced gentle from 13 of 14 competitors authorities for the Asiana deal and CEO Walter Cho has stated he anticipates the ultimate U.S. determination by the tip of October.