SEOUL AIR International has ceased its turboprop-aircraft operations amid serious financial difficulties, and most of its aircraft have been returned to lessor British Aerospace.
The South Korean airline acquired two ATPs and one Jetstream 41 in early 1995, directly from Jetstream Aircraft. Two used Jetstream 31s were also acquired, from Canada.
Seoul Air had intended to create a major domestic network, but these plans were apparently thwarted by the airline's failure to secure approval from the South Korean Government to operate the domestic services. As a result, the carrier's aircraft were deployed on ad hoc charter services, most of them in Vietnam.
British Aerospace, which describes the consistency of Seoul Air's lease-payments as being "haphazard", made several attempts, to restructure the airline's financial arrangements. "We eventually decided we could find a more solid customer and regular income for the aircraft elsewhere," says British Aerospace's turboprop-remarketing arm, Asset Management - Turboprops (AMT). The Jetstream 31s, in which BAe has no financial exposure, continue to be operated in Vietnam.
AMT says that, although all three aircraft are formally the responsibility of Aero International (Regional), AMT is already remarketing the ATPs, and will probably also be tasked with remarketing the J41.
Source: Flight International
