Korean Air Records Strong Q4 and Full-Year Performance in 2010

Korean Air has posted an operating revenue of 2,897.6 billion KRW for the fourth quarter of 2010, up 12.4% compared to the same period last year.

The growth is due to the increase international passenger business and in particular increased passenger volume on short-haul international routes.

Operating profit reached 188.8 billion KRW, an increase of 22.6% compared to Q4 2009. International passenger and cargo businesses remained the major revenue contributors for the airline in Q4, accounting for half and 33.1% of the operating revenue respectively.

For the full year of 2010, the airline recorded an operating revenue of 11,459.2 billion KRW, up 22% year-on-year, and operating profit of 1,119.2 billion KRW, a surge of 7.39 times, thanks to the overall recovery of the aviation industry in the year under review and the significant rebound of the international passenger business. Net income for the full year returned to the black and reached 468.4 billion KRW, compared to a loss of 98.9 billion KRW in 2009.

The international passenger segment recorded a y-o-y growth of 1.6% and 6.5% in passenger carrying capacity and traffic, reaching 19,054 million ASK and 14,318 million RPK respectively. Total passenger numbers in the fourth quarter recorded an increase of 13% compared to the same period a year ago, with robust growth recorded in markets such as China, SE Asia and Japan. The increased demand of short-haul routes boosted passenger revenue in the fourth quarter by 16.9% y-o-y to 1,592billion KRW.

Revenue generated from the cargo segment reached 960billion KRW, up 1.9% y-o-y in the fourth quarter. Demand for cargo services worldwide rose steadily as reflected in an improvement in capacity (up 1.8% to 3,235 million AFTK) and traffic (up 1.7% to 2,449 million FTK). The increased cargo traffic was recorded in the industry’s traditional peak season which coincided with the festive season, while the increase of Korea’s outbound cargo traffic of auto parts and machineries fueled the growth in this segment. Transit cargo traffic, especially from Europe and SE Asian regions, also recorded an increase during the period under review.

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