Korean Air, Asiana eye more routes and cargo deliveries

Korean Air Lines Co. and Asiana Airlines Inc. are eyeing more international routes next month to carry freight.

Korean Air may resume the Dallas and Vienna routes in July while increasing the number of flights to some routes it's already serving.

In June, Korean Air resumed flights on 19 international routes with more focus on cargo deliveries to offset a decline in passenger travel.

Korean Air plans to increase flights to Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, Paris, London, Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh.

It has also resumed services to Seattle, Toronto, Vancouver, Frankfurt, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore.

On the other hand, Asiana is mulling to restart flights to Osaka, Paris, London, and Istanbul next month.

Asiana plans to increase the number of flights to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi, and Frankfurt. It has also restarted flights to Seattle, Frankfurt, Manila, and Phnom Penh.

The two full-service carriers suspended most of their flights servicing international routes since late March.

Due to the pandemic, 70 percent of Korean Air's 20,000 workforce took paid leave for six months beginning April 16 and is selling non-core assets to secure cash.

Asiana's entire 10,500 employees take unpaid leaves for 15 days a month starting in April until the situation normalizes.