Korean Air Cargo and Vienna Airport are eyeing increased air cargo traffic between Seoul and Vienna as the partners marked 20 years since a Korean Air Cargo freighter landed in the Austrian capital for the first time.
To further increase air cargo traffic between Seoul and Vienna, Korean Air Cargo and Vienna Airport wanted to launch joint marketing initiatives targeted at forwarders and customers, among other measures.
"In February of this year, the companies signed the corresponding agreement designed to expand their cooperation. Within this context, the partners will also exchange industry expertise as the basis for offering optimal services," the announcement said.
On April 24, 2004, a Korean Air Cargo freighter landed in Vienna for the first time, marking the beginning of a partnership in the cargo and passenger sector. This partnership continues to this day and is also being expanded.
Korean Air and Vienna Airport celebrated the anniversary on June 11, 2024, at an Austro-Korean gala evening at the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna with Jaedong Eum, head of cargo business division at Korean Air Cargo, Myung Kyu Park, MVP Cargo Sales Department at Korean Air Cargo, Sangwook Ham, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Austria, and Julian Jäger, joint CEO and COO of Vienna Airport, as well as over 100 guests from business, aviation and tourism.
"Korean Air Cargo and Vienna Airport are linked by two decades of good cooperation. The partnership shows how Europe and Asia cooperate successfully. Vienna's geographical location and excellent infrastructure make the airport an important hub in Korean Air Cargo's route network," said Julian Jäger, joint CEO and COO of Vienna Airport.
"Together we want to further expand our high-quality standards and position Vienna as the leading European cargo airport. We thank Korean Air Cargo for their continued commitment and look forward to a successful future," he added.
Jaedong Eum, head of the Korean Air Cargo business division, noted that during the past 20 years, Vienna Airport has not only evolved into the main gateway for Korean businesses entering Eastern Europe but also into a key hub connecting Asia with Eastern Europe.
"Our Vienna cargo operation started off with a once-a-week service and has now grown to more than one flight a day. This remarkable growth would not have been possible without the dedicated and proactive partnership shown by Vienna Airport. We look forward to further strengthening the cooperation between the two companies in the future," he said.
20 years of air cargo connection
Korean Air Cargo has been operating cargo flights from and to Vienna since 2004, currently around ten times per week.
In doing so, Korean Air Cargo has been deploying a mix of various aircraft, i.e., the Boeing-747-400F, Boeing 747-8F and Boeing 777F.
As a result, it links production and sales markets in Austria and the entire CEE region with more than 110 global destinations via Incheon Airport in Seoul, the largest airport in South Korea.
Vienna Airport is an important cargo hub for Korean Air due to its ideal geographical location and handling infrastructure. The airline leverages Vienna Airport as a transhipment point for automobile production in Central and Eastern Europe.
Similarly, electronic and pharmaceutical products comprise a significant percentage of the cargo tonnage.
Korean Air commenced passenger flights to Vienna in September 2006.
