South Korea has two strong airlines, Korean Air and Asiana Airlines. Korean is a member of the SkyTeam airline association, while Asiana is in the Star Alliance. Both carriers have large fleets, and both carriers have a major hub at Seoul Incheon Airport. They connect Korea with roughly the same destinations, so they are a big competition to each other, along with of course the competition from other airlines. Asiana has been in financial trouble for a long time and is trying to consolidate, and the coronavirus and travel bans are just the icing on the cake.
Korean decided to buy Asia with the help of the state and thus turn these two carriers into one big one. This will reduce competition in its hub and will be able to compete better with carriers from other countries.
Connecting the two aerials can be a challenging task. Especially if they are two large airlines. If the carriers are smaller, only one integrates into the other without any major difficulties, but when the carriers are larger than it is a longer process. It is necessary to integrate employees in this case Asiana in Korean. The question is what this means about overstaffing, will some of Asiana employees lose their jobs or will everyone find a job in Korea.
It will be interesting to see in which airline association they will stay, but it will most likely be SkyTeam, which means the Star Alliance will lose one airline in Asia.
There is also the question of the integration of passenger cabins. Will everything else be the same as with Korean, or will some things be taken from Asiana, because it won’t be that easy to repaint the plane from the outside and change the cabin to make it identical to the one from Korean. These are extremely expensive and time-consuming processes, where fleet integration can take as long as several years. In addition, Korean offers 3 classes in its passenger cabins, while Asiana offers 4 classes. Compared to Korean, Asiana offers an economic plus class. Maybe Korean will accept that and add an extra class to its cabin. Aircraft must also be repainted in new colors.
Another interesting question that arises is what the fleet of this new airline could be, because both carriers have very different fleets, from narrow-body to wide-body aircraft. But the interesting thing is that both carriers have Airbus A380 aircraft in their fleets. Of course, at the moment, this aircraft is an aggravating circumstance.
The existing Korean Air fleet (data source: ch-aviation) includes both active and inactive aircraft:
- 10x Airbus A220-300 – average age (years) 2.6
- 8x Airbus A330-200 – average age (years) 14.3
- 22x Airbus A330-300 – average age (years) 16.7
- 10x Airbus A380 – average age (years) 8.6
- 1x Boeing 737-700BBJ – average age (years) 11.3
- 5x Boeing 737-800 – average age (years) 15.5
- 16x Boeing 737-900 – average age (years) 17.5
- 6x Boeing 737-900ER – average age (years) 8.5
- 2x Boeing 747-400 – average age (years) 23.0
- 4x Boeing 747-400ERF – average age (years) 15.2
- 10x Boeing 747-8 – average age (years) 4.5
- 7x Boeing 747-8F – average age (years) 7.2
- 12x Boeing 777-200ER – average age (years) 16.7
- 12x Boeing 777-200F – average age (years) 5.5
- 4x Boeing 777-300 – average age (years) 21.5
- 26x Boeing 777-300ER – average age (years) 6.6
- 1x Boeing 787-8BBJ – average age (years) 5.7
- 10x Boeing 787-9 – average age (years) 2.8
A total of 166 aircraft
Korean has ordered 80 aircraft:
- 30x Airbus A321neo
- 30x Boeing 737-8
- 10x Boeing 787-9
- 10x Boeing 787-10
The existing fleet of Asian Airlines (data source: ch-aviation), both active and inactive aircraft were considered:
- 5x Airbus A320 – average age (years) 13.5
- 1x Airbus A321-100 – average age (years) 19.5
- 15x Airbus A321-200 – average age (years) 6.4
- 1x Airbus A321neo – average age (years) 1.3
- 15x Airbus A330-300 – average age (years) 11.3
- 11x Airbus A350-900 – average age (years) 2.3
- 6x Airbus A380 – average age (years) 5.7
- 1x Boeing 747-400 – average age (years) 22.5
- 7x Boeing 747-400BDSF – average age (years) 26.5
- 4x Boeing 747-400FSCD – average age (years) 21.6
- 6x Boeing 767-300 – average age (years) 23.8
- 1x Boeing 767-300F – average age (years) 24.5
- 9x Boeing 777-200ER – average age (years) 12.8
A total of 82 aircraft
Asiana has ordered 43 aircraft:
- 24x Airbus A321neo
- 10x Airbus A350-900
- 9x Airbus A350-1000
After this list of aircraft in the fleet, we see great variety and many types of aircraft.
Korean currently bases its narrow-body fleet on the smaller Airbus A220 and the larger Boeing 737 NG. Airbuses A220 are new aircraft. Currently, narrow-bodied fleets are still in the replacement phase, as the 737 NG has an average age above 15 years. Their replacement will be the Boeing 737-8 aircraft, better known as the MAX 8, which are currently grounded all over the world for known reasons, but we can expect their return very soon. Interestingly, they chose the Airbus A321neo for the larger narrow-body aircraft, and did not take the Boeing 737-10, for example. Obviously, the longer range of the Airbus A321 is not a very important feature.
There are two types of Airbus aircraft in the Korean wide-body fleet, namely the A330 and A380, while the other wide-body aircraft arrived from the Boeing factory. A380 aircraft are on average under 10 years of age, while Airbus A330s are about fifteen years old on average, but part of the aircraft is older, part is relatively young. Although the Airbus A330 aircraft can be said to have been the backbone of smaller wide-body aircraft, as Korean has 30 in its fleet. aircraft. Korean ordered 30 Boeing 787 aircraft in two variants -9 and -10.
They also have 12 Boeing 777-200ER aircraft that are on average 16 years old, which means they won’t be in the fleet for long either. The largest twin-engine aircraft in the Koran fleet are the Boeing 777-300 with an average age 21 years, and while the 777-300ER fleet is young with an average of 6 years.
There are also two Boeing 747-400 passenger planes in the fleet, but these planes will certainly not survive the reorganization, and will retire. They also have a fleet of 10 Boeing 747-8 passenger aircraft, and their future is very similar to that of the A380, because now such large aircraft are not needed in the market. But when the market recovers, we will hopefully find places for them as well.
According to the age, ie the average age (years) , it can be expected that Korean would leave these aircraft (cargo and aircraft are excluded):
- Airbus A220
- Boeing 737-8
- Airbus A321neo
- Airbus A330-200
- Airbus A330-300
- Boeing 787-9
- Boeing 787-10
- Boeing 777-300ER
- Boeing 747-8
- Airbus A380
Asiana does not have many narrow-body aircraft, and most of the fleet consists of Airbus A321 aircraft. The average age of this fleet is only 6.4 years, so very young aircraft. They also have one Airbus A321neo aircraft in the fleet, and another 24 ordered copies. They also have 5 A320 aircraft, but they are on average 13 years old, and will most likely not find their place in the fleet of the future major airline.
In the wide-body fleet among smaller aircraft, there are older aircraft 767-300 with an average age of almost 24 years, which means they will certainly not find their place in the future fleet. The Airbus A330 is on average about 11 years old. There is also a fleet of 9 Boeing 777-200ER aircraft that are not that old, averaging about 13 years.
Of the large wide-body aircraft, Asiana has 11 new Airbus A350-900s, and an additional 10 ordered, and they also have 9 Airbus A350-1000 aircraft ordered. These are new aircraft and will certainly be the backbone of the long-haul fleet.
Like the Korean, Asiana also has a Boeing 747-400 aircraft in its fleet, but like the Korean, this aircraft will retire. Of course, it must be mentioned that Asiana also has Airbus A380 aircraft in its fleet.
If, as with the Korean fleet, a younger fleet is chosen, then the following aircraft could be included in the joint fleet:
- Airbus A321
- Airbus A321neo
- Airbus A330-300
- Airbus A350-900
- Airbus A350-1000
In conclusion, the joint fleet should be composed of these aircraft:
- Airbus A220
- Boeing 737-8
- Airbus A321 & A321neo
- Airbus A330-200 / -300
- Boeing 787-9 / -10
- Airbus A350-900 / -1000
- Boeing 777-300ER
- Boeing 747-8
- Airbus A380
However, the possibility of an even greater reduction or simplification of the fleet with the launch of a few more aircraft models should be considered. It may also remain possible to leave some types we have left as retirement aircraft such as the Boeing 777-200ER, Airbus A320 or Boeing 737-900ER. This will be a big task for the management of a new airline that will have to find an optimal fleet that will be able to meet all current and future market demands.
Subsidiaries / low cost carriers
Korean has one subsidiary, low-cost carrier Jin Air. This carrier is also based at Seoul Incheon Airport, and at another airport in Seoul Airport – Gimpo. Jin Air flies to tourist destinations.
Jin Air’s fleet consists of (data source: ch-aviation):
- 24x B737-800 – average age (years) 12.0
- 4x B777-200ER – average age (years) 14.7
Asiana has two subsidiaries, Air Busan and Air Seoul, both low-cost carriers. Air Busan is based in the city of Busan, while Air Seoul is based in Seoul. Both carriers fly domestic and foreign routes, and both carriers base their fleets on Airbus aircraft.
Air Busan fleet (data source: ch-aviation):
- 8x A320-200 – average age (years) 13.3
- 14x A321-200 – average age (years) 13.0
- 1x A321neo – average age (years) 0.5
- 1x A321neoLR – average age (years) 0.7
Air Seoul Fleet (data source: ch-aviation):
- 7x A321-200 – average age (years) 8.0
It is possible that after the unification of Korean and Asiana, all low-cost carriers will be merged into one, in order to reduce costs and eliminate competition among these airlines. It is interesting to see how Korean forwarded its Boeing 777-200ER aircraft to its low-cost carrier. Since both Korean and Asiana have a total of 21 aircraft of this type, it may happen that low-cost carriers will base their wide-body fleet on that aircraft, and later replace them with some newer aircraft such as the 787 or A350. Also, it is only possible to speculate about that.
There is also the issue of the dual fleet of narrow-body aircraft Airbus A320 series and Boeing 737 NG. But the backbone will certainly be Airbus A321neo aircraft, both in terms of range and capacity.
Freight carriers
The above text in the final fleets does not consider cargo aircraft, but if we just merge Korean and Asiana cargo aircraft the fleet would look like this:
- 1x Boeing 767-300F – average age (years) 24.5
- 12x Boeing 777-200F – average age (years) 5.5
- 4x Boeing 747-400ERF – average age (years) 15.2
- 7x Boeing 747-400BDSF – average age (years) 26.5
- 4x Boeing 747-400FSCD – average age (years) 21.6
- 7x Boeing 747-8F – average age (years) 7.2
In total, the cargo fleet would have a respectable 35 cargo aircraft.
Certainly, a mitigating circumstance is that both airlines have started to rebuild their fleets, so a very respectable airline can agree with the current fleets, without the need to deliver new aircraft. That airline will become one of the largest in the world. Certainly, it will be interesting to follow the developments around the new Korean in the future. We also hope to return to Zagreb as soon as possible.
