South Korean carrier Asiana Airlines is looking to axe most of its first class product offering from international flights in order to save costs.
In a video sent out to the airline’s employees, Asiana’s chief executive Kim Soo-cheon stated that first class will only remain on the A380, and that the airline would move to cut the top cabin class from its existing B777-200ER and B747-400 aircraft.
"Considering that our company is at an absolutely inferior position in terms of supply of first-class seats, all other flights will change to a two-class system, while the first class will remain on our four Airbus 380 airliners," said Kim.
According to The Korean Herald, the Star Alliance member has been bleeding money heavily since it made a loss of KRW11.8 billion (US$9.9 million) last year. Compounded with the effects of the MERS outbreak earlier this year, Asiana reported a widening loss of KRW85.4 billion (US$71.63 million) during the April to June period of 2015.
Load factors for first class has been low yet demand high maintenance costs. Cutting back on its most premium cabin class will allow Asiana to expand capacity in the more profitable business and economy markets.
For more information, visit flyasiana.com
Clement Huang
