How business, doctors and journalists prey on your food anxieties I

A D V E R T I S E M E N T
KORE A N AIR
The World's Fourteenth-Laraest Airline
orean Air (KAL), with a
fleet of 99 wide-bodied aircraft, last vear
carried 18 .9 million passengers <strong>and</strong> 764,000
tons of cargo at home <strong>and</strong> abroad, becoming
the .vorld's 14th-largest airline . It is
aiming to be among the world's top ten airlines
in the near future .
This year, with nine new aircraft, KAL
<strong>and</strong>cipates transporting 20 milllon pasvengers
<strong>and</strong> 784,000 tons .of cargo, with expected revenues
of 3 ttillion won (roughlc .b4 billion) .
KAL rcported a $46 .78 million net profit
on total revenues of $3 .88 'oillion last year,
up an impressive 221 % over its 1993 result .
Now serving 72 cities in 28 countries
including the U .S ., Japan, Soucheast Asia,
Europe <strong>and</strong> the Middle East, this year K4IL
plans to add passenger service from Seoul to
Brussels, Nadi in Fiji, Tel Aviv <strong>and</strong> Mexico
City, as well as new freight flights m San
Francisco, Chicago, Atlanra, Beijing <strong>and</strong>
Amsterdam .
The Korean national flag carrier's overall
growth has been phenomenal . In 1969,
when Hanjin Group Chairman Cho
Choone-Hoon took over the ailing stateowned
Korean National Airlines, renaming
it KAL, it only had one jet -a DG9-<strong>and</strong>
seven propeller aircaft, <strong>and</strong> flew only to
Japan <strong>and</strong> Hong Kong .
Twenty-six years later, on March 24,
1995, IiA1's 100th aircraft, a B747d00,
l<strong>and</strong>ed at Seoul's Kimpo Airport, ushering
KAlL into the ranks of the mega-carriers .
Hanjin is South Koreas serenth-largest
group . It operates an integrated l<strong>and</strong>/sealair
transportation network including KAL, an
oceangoing conrainer fleet <strong>and</strong> the largest
trucking service in the country. It also has
subsidiaries in construction, telecommunications,
banking, insurance <strong>and</strong> securities .
KAL President <strong>and</strong> CEO Cho Yang-Ho,
46, who is the eldescson of Hanjids chairman,
says KAL aims eventually to extend its
routes across the American continent <strong>and</strong>
then across the Atlantic to Europe, thereby
making its long-cherished dream of offering
around-the-world service come true .
Cho attributes KAL's success to hard
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http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/agf97d00/pdf
work : "Koreans are very hard-wor'xing people,
so we work harder than ocher airlines,
<strong>and</strong> we always prepare for the worst since
we are a private company. We don't expect
any government subsidies in the event of a
downtum . unlike some orher countries' airlines
. We keep costs down <strong>and</strong> our product
good, <strong>and</strong> in the event of a downturn, we're
readv. We are ready to survive ."
He has also had the foresight to invest
heavily in KAL's cargo division over the
years . KAL's cargo terminal at Los Angeles
International Airpott is the largest cargo terminal
on North Americas West Coast,
while KAI- owns <strong>and</strong> operates huge rargo
terminals at New York's JFK Airport <strong>and</strong>
Tokyo's Narita Airport .
KAL is investing $130 million to build a
massive air freight terminal at Beijing
International Airport in a joint venture with
China's Civil Aviation Administration .
Last vear, KA1's cargo revenue rose 16%
<strong>and</strong> contributed one-third of the airline's
total revenues of,53_88 billion . It is now
the third-largest in the world in terms of
international freight mn-kilometers.
At rhe moment, KAL sees China as a
market with huge potential . KAI's four
routes are very-successful, with high load
factors to Beijing <strong>and</strong> Qindao due to
increasing South Korean <strong>business</strong>
investments in China .
"In the future,
because of high
growmh in China's
economy <strong>and</strong> its
big population,
we expect a
good outbound
market from
China,"
Cho savs .
China just
gave KAL permission
to fly through
its airspace to Moscow
<strong>and</strong> Rome, enabling
KAL to cut three hours off
the trip <strong>and</strong> save millions of dol-
lars annually in fuel alone .
KAL is negotiating with major airlines in
Europe, Asia <strong>and</strong> Norut Artterica with new
deals in mind, <strong>and</strong> is seeking a quality
alliance with a big U .S . operator.
Last vear KAL carried 6 .4 million international
passengers <strong>and</strong> 12 .6 million
domestic ones, while competitor Asiana
h<strong>and</strong>led 1 .5 million intemational <strong>and</strong> 4 .5
million domestic passengers .
KAL is phasing out old aircraft, which
will be replaced by new B747-400s, B777s
<strong>and</strong> Air'ous A330s, reducing operational
costs through more efficient fuel performance
<strong>and</strong> lower maintenance costs .
KALs fleet today includes 37 3747s-
17 of the 400 series jets <strong>and</strong> 11 freightersfive
MID-11s, 31 Airbus A300s, nine b4D-
82s <strong>and</strong> 12 Fokker F-l0os .
On order up to the vear 2000 are 13
B747-4DOs, four B777Bs, eight B777-
stretches, seven Airbus 330s, two MD-82s
<strong>and</strong> two Fokker-100s . . .
u-it-h a young fleet, a high-quality product
<strong>and</strong> an outbound tourist market that is
the fastest-growing in rhe world, nor to
mention the potential of the China market,
KAL's future looks brighter than ever,
204667,2376
"We keep costs
down <strong>and</strong> our
product
QOOdd
in
the
event
of a
downtu"1,
vfe're
ready ."