NICHOLAS IONIDES SINGAPORE
Asiana Airlines and Korean Air (KAL) are to reinstate codeshare agreements with their US partners following the US Federal Aviation Administration's upgrade of South Korea's safety oversight rating to Category 1.
The South Korean Ministry of Construction and Transportation announced in December that the FAA had restored its Category 1 rating three months after downgrading it to Category 2. The downgrade forced Asiana to suspend its lucrative codeshare with American Airlines and forced KAL to delay the long-planned re-introduction of codesharing with SkyTeam Alliance partner Delta Air Lines, which was suspended after a series of accidents between 1997 and 1999. It also prevented the two carriers from increasing US services. Asiana says it will reinstate American codesharing "immediately", while KAL hopes to codeshare with Delta early in 2002.
The return to Category 1 status, which means South Korea complies with International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards, followed an FAA evaluation of improvements made by the Korea Civil Aviation Bureau since the mid-August downgrade. The embarrassing downgrade forced the resignation of the country's transport minister.
South Korea acted quickly to appease the FAA, improving its oversight of Asiana and KAL. Parliament also passed into law a new civil aviation act creating a legal framework for the country to raise its oversight standards to an internationally acceptable level. The act provides for the setting up of an independent accident investigation board and the adoption of ICAO annexes that lay down standards for personnel licensing and aircraft operations and airworthiness. One of the FAA's main concerns prior to the downgrade was South Korea's lack of a means to legally enforce globally accepted aviation safety regulations.
Source: Airline Business
