Korean Air to cut flights to cope with rising oil
SEOUL, May 26 (Reuters) - South Korea's top airline, Korean Air Lines Co Ltd (003490.KS), said on Monday it plans to cut some passenger flights from June to mid-July to cope with surging jet fuel prices.
Korean Air, the world's No.1 cargo carrier, said it also plans to adjust routes based on demand and earnings and may hedge its fuel costs.
"We will reduce slack routes and flights which are expected to slow down," a company official told Reuters by telephone asking not to be identified.
Korean Air will cut flights in 12 routes, suspend five routes and change planes in four routes.
The plans come as airplane fuel prices JET-SIN hit a record high on Monday. Prices have jumped 57 percent so far this year.
Korean Air swung to a larger-than-expected quarterly net loss in the first quarter, hit by higher fuel costs.
In the first three months of the year, the company used 1.3 percent more fuel from a year ago while fuel costs, its single-biggest cost item making up 30 percent of its operating expenses, jumped 49 percent.
In South Korea's stock market, shares in Korean Air ended down 3.4 percent to 46,450 won, underperforming a 1.5 percent fall in the benchmark KOSPI . (Reporting by Cheon Jong-woo; Editing by Louise Heavens)
