South Korean carrier Asiana Airlines plans to introduce four new aircraft into its fleet as part of its business plan for 2013.
These include an Airbus A321, two Airbus A330-300s and a Boeing 777-200, says the airline.
It also intends to phase out two Boeing 737 aircraft from its fleet, and complete the retrofitting of its existing 777-200 aircraft used on long-haul routes, says the airline.
Asiana will also expand its network by launching new services and raising frequencies on its existing routes.
It plans to launch daily and twice weekly services to Jakarta and Denpasar respectively, in July.
Frequencies to Chongqing and Chicago will both be raised to daily, up from four times weekly. Services to Yangon will be doubled to four times weekly. These changes will take place in July.
Asiana expects an increase in passenger numbers as a result of factors such as the appreciation of the South Korean won, and an increase in the GDP for the Asia-Pacific region.
The carrier, meanwhile, is aiming for profitability in the cargo sector, by maintaining a reasonable number of aircraft, routes and market share.
It will enhance sales by relaunching services to Tokyo Narita, and expanding its services to Shanghai. The airline also aims to increase cargo interline sales, attract regular demand for belly cargo and restructure its unprofitable services.
Asiana adds that it has set a financial target plan of achieving a 12% increase in its fiscal year 2013 revenue to W6.3 trillion ($5.75 billion), and it aims to more than double its operating profit to W360 billion.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
