As the coronavirus continues to impact the airline industry, Korean Air said it will be focusing its resources on its freighter business as the second half of the year is expected to remain difficult.

Despite the downturn in passenger volume, the South Korean flag carrier recently released its performance for the second quarter showing sales in the second quarter falling 44% year-on-year to 1.691 trillion won (US$1.41 billion) due to a plunge in passenger demand caused by COVID-19, but, it recorded an operating profit of 148.5 billion won (US$123.7 million) and net profit of 162.4 billion won (US$135.3 million).

Korean Air said this is due to the airline's move to focuse on its freighter business, by increasing the operation rate of freighters and maximizing cargo supply on its passenger planes. 

"While the sharp decline in the number of passenger flights has made it difficult for the airline to make use of belly cargo, Korean Air responded by increasing the operation rate of freighters by 22% year-on-year through strict maintenance checks and oversight, increasing supply by 1.9%," it said in a statement.

The airline saw its Freight Ton Kilometer (FTK) increase by 17.3% year-on-year, and its cargo sales increase by 94.6% (596 billion won, or US$496 million) to 1.23 trillion won (US$1.02 billion) respectively.

Difficult second half

Korean Air said passenger demand fell to "record lows" due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to a 92.2% decline in Revenue Passenger Kilometer (RPK) year-on-year. But demand for domestic flights has been recovering since April, mainly on Jeju routes, and demand for international flights has been gradually improving since June. 

"Due to the continued impact of the COVID-19 crisis, the second half of the year is expected to be difficult as well. However, Korean Air plans to maximize revenue by transporting time-sensitive, high-priced cargo such as disinfection products, e-commerce products, semiconductor devices and automobile parts," the South Korean airline said.

It noted that Korean Air will also further expand capacity by taking seats off the passenger aircraft to use them as freighters. 

Korean Air recently rolled out a ‘CARE FIRST’ program to enhance travel safety and awareness with its customers and employees.

The airline said it will also continue to keep improving its digital and mobile services to minimize contact between people, which will also enable the airline to efficiently respond to the recovery of demand in the future.