P.M. BRIEFING : New Seoul Airline to Buy 9 U.S. Jets
Asiana Airlines, a new South Korean carrier, today announced a deal worth about $1 billion to buy nine Boeing Co. jets and take options on seven more.
Asiana officials said the airline, which began domestic flights in December and eventually plans North American service, did not want to purchase used aircraft because of high maintenance costs and uncertain reliability.
“In the short term, we could have saved a few dollars by buying or leasing older planes,” said S. Y. Park, chairman of Kumho Business Group, Asiana’s parent company. “However, a new airline has enough problems establishing its market base without the burden of heavy maintenance responsibilities and the uncertainty of whether older planes will perform reliably.”
Asiana ordered two 747-400 jumbo jets from Seattle-based Boeing and took options for two more, and ordered five 737-400s and took options for another five. In addition, it converted two previous options for wide-body 767-300s to firm orders.
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