Source: China News Network
China News Network Seoul, December 22 Title: Exclusive interview with Korean Air Vice President Lee Seung-fan: Looking forward to expanding cooperation with China after the epidemic
China News Network reporter Liu Xu
As one of the 20 largest airlines in the world, Korean Air is the largest airline in South Korea and one of the largest airlines in Asia. Since Korean Air launched the first regular route between South Korea and China in December 1994, South Korea-China air channel has made great contributions to the exchanges and economic development of the two countries. Recently, Lee Seung-fan, vice president of Korean Air's customer service department and former chief representative of Korean Air China, accepted an exclusive interview with China News Service reporters. All of Korean Air has had close contacts with China for the past 28 years since it opened its Chinese route, and looks forward to continuing to expand cooperation with China after the COVID-19 pandemic.
traveled hand in hand, and worked closely with China for 28 years
On October 31, 1994, China and South Korea signed an air transport agreement. Two months later, in December 1994, the first regular route between China and South Korea, namely the Seoul-Beijing route, was officially opened. Afterwards, Korean Air successively opened routes from Seoul to Shenyang, , Qingdao, and Tianjin. In the following 28 years, Korean Air's routes have covered most of the major cities in China and South Korea, making great contributions to the exchanges and economic development of the two countries.
From 2009 to 2011, Lee Seung-bang served in China as the chief representative of Korean Air China. "In the past three years, the Chinese aviation market has developed very rapidly. Being able to experience this period personally has made my understanding of the Chinese aviation market more profound." Li Chengfan recalled to reporters that during his tenure in China, he assisted in opening several new routes, including Incheon to Mudanjiang , and continued to work hard to expand the South Korea-China route network.
In addition, Korean Air has also developed with regional society through the implementation of public welfare activities such as Sunshine Bookstore, Love Plan, Afforestation, and Post-disaster Aid in China. In the first year of Lee Seung-bang's tenure as China, Korean Air invited primary school students from the disaster area to visit Jeju Island on the first anniversary of the Wenchuan earthquake; in 2010, Korean Air built the first "Sunshine Bookstore" in Xi'an, and in the following 10 years, it successively settled the "Sunshine Bookstore" in Huangshan, Liping , Huachuan and other regions. "We hope to fulfill the social responsibilities of the company in the best way we can."
"It is of great significance and impressive to me personally to help Chinese children realize their dreams by participating in a series of charity activities such as the company's 'Love Plan'." Li Chengfan said, "The happy smiles of those children are still vivid in my mind. The first batch of primary school students should have already started working as adults. I don't know if they have realized their wishes."
The picture shows Korean Air carrying out a charity activity in Sunshine Bookstore in Xi'an. Photo provided by Korean Air
There is opportunity in crisis, and it is necessary to make a good epidemic protection plan
. For a long time, Korean Air has provided safe and high-quality services to passengers and the industry to recognize passengers. It has been awarded the Skytrax five-star airline and Skytrax epidemic prevention and safety five-star airline certification, and in 2021, it won the ATW Airline of the Year award, known as the "Aviation Industry Oscar Award".
As the vice president of Korean Air's customer service department, Li Chengfan told reporters that in order to ensure that passengers can travel with confidence during the COVID-19 pandemic, Korean Air launched the "Care First" epidemic prevention plan, covering every link between passengers' departure and arrival at their destination, and establishing an effective communication channel with passengers to ensure that passengers can easily obtain the latest epidemic prevention information.
Li Chengfan introduced that although the new crown epidemic has caused a sharp decline in passenger demand, the demand for air cargo has increased significantly at the same time. Korean Air made timely adjustments based on market changes and focused its business on freight business. Against the backdrop of the new crown epidemic, Korean Air still achieved profits for six consecutive quarters.
At present, with the increase in vaccination rates in various countries, everyone is looking forward to the recovery of business travel demand in the post-epidemic era.Lee Seung-bang revealed that Korean Air plans to respond to market changes in a timely manner through flexible business operations, meet short-term market demand by launching irregular flights, and respond to the upcoming post-epidemic era by increasing manpower investment and strengthening employee education, and strive to provide passengers with safe and high-quality aviation services. At the same time, Korean Air will closely monitor the spread of mutant strains such as Omickron , and adjust passenger routes at any time according to the ever-changing entry and exit and quarantine regulations of various countries to ensure safe operation during the recovery period of the passenger transport market.
"We must admit that the new crown epidemic has put the entire aviation industry in crisis." Li Chengfan said, "But in Chinese, the two Chinese characters 'crisis' contain the two meanings of 'danger' and 'opportunity'. Opportunity will follow after the danger occurs. Therefore, it is more important to seize opportunities rather than fear danger."
Li Chengfan said that although the mutant virus is coming in full force, I believe that the new crown pneumonia epidemic will eventually be effectively controlled, and by then aviation demand will show explosive growth. At that time, Korean Air will continue to put passenger satisfaction first, constantly strive to meet customer needs, and build convenient and fast service systems and self-service checked baggage services and other digital-based contactless services based on the living habits of potential user groups such as young passengers. "We need to be prepared to reduce the impact of the crisis on our survival through diversified operations."
The picture shows Korean Air donating masks to Wuhan area to support post-epidemic reconstruction. Photo provided by Korean Air
optimizes routes, looking forward to expanding cooperation with China after the epidemic
As the former chief representative of Korean Air China, in Li Chengfan's view, the market size of China's civil aviation is huge. In the overall air passenger demand, domestic routes account for more than 80%, which is very different from the Korean air market where most revenue depends on international routes.
Li Chengfan pointed out that China's aviation market is growing rapidly. Relying on the rapid growth of the aviation market and strong capital support, several large Chinese airlines have become one of the world's top airlines through measures such as introducing new models and improving service quality. "We hope to continue to strengthen cooperation with Chinese airlines, strive to provide more convenient air services for passengers from China and South Korea, and contribute to the development of the Chinese aviation market."
"Due to the epidemic, the operation of South Korea-China routes has been subject to many restrictions, and it is expected to take one to two years to fully recover." Li Chengfan said, "I look forward to the epidemic ending as soon as possible, flights can increase, and the operation of South Korea-China routes can return to the level before the epidemic as soon as possible. We will also welcome the arrival of the post-epidemic era with higher quality services.
Li Chengfan predicts that after the end of the new crown epidemic, the long-storage tourism demand of Chinese tourists will experience an explosive growth. "In order to provide passengers with more convenient airlines, we will continue to optimize flight time, improve service quality, and continue to implement a series of representative social welfare activities such as "Sunshine Bookstore", and strive to become an airline that symbiotically with local society. ”(End)
