Korean Air is expanding its operations to the US West Coast as well as enhancing its relationship with Skyteam partner Delta Air Lines, as part of an effort to strengthen its position in the North America market.
Claimed to be the largest Asian airline servicing America, Korean Air will be increasing the frequency of its flights from Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. By next June, the airline expects to operate close to 50 flights a week from the West Coast. These will include 19 from Los Angeles, 14 from San Francisco beginning September, seven from Seattle and five from Las Vegas.
Speaking about the expanded flight frequency, Korean Air vice president, John Jackson, said: “We’ve added flights and improved our schedules for fast and easy connections to Singapore, China, Vietnam, Japan and almost any destination in Southeast Asia. Korean Air is the largest non-Chinese airline operating in China and our connections from the US are outstanding.”
In addition to the added frequency, the carrier plans to enlarge its Delta Air Lines network to provide Delta customers with access to more than 30 Asia markets and Korean Air customers to more than 150 markets in the Americas. “Delta will be putting its code on our flights from Houston, San Francisco and dozens of destinations beyond Seoul served by Korean Air,” Jackson added.
The carrier’s North America expansion comes on the heels of an announcement in late November regarding network changes in 2017, including a new three-times-weekly direct service between Incheon and Barcelona. The carrier also recently launched a reciprocal mileage tie-up with Japan Airlines.
