Asiana in trouble

[I love to travel]

Well i just went and booked my back up QF award. So that means our AFF awards are all safe now and I will take the 6000 award cancellation fee hit for the AFF team

 

[boomy]

Well i just went and booked my back up QF award. So that means our AFF awards are all safe now and I will take the 6000 award cancellation fee hit for the AFF team

QF points are best used as plan B. Booked few times BA F using QF points as backup in case I can’t get LH F T-14.
Didn’t feel too bad about occupying award space because who really wants to fly BA anyway

 

[drron]

QF points are best used as plan B. Booked few times BA F using QF points as backup in case I can’t get LH F T-14.
Didn’t feel too bad about occupying award space because who really wants to fly BA anyway

Me!

 

[jch]

So Asiana have announced they are keeping their A380s.
Say they will cut routes but none announced yet.
(LEAD) Asiana to keep A380s in fleet amid streamlining efforts | Yonhap News Agency

Is anyone starting to switch FF programs because of this? Have a big year of travel coming up and was thinking of crediting to Asiana due to the low mileage requiment for *G and possibility of lifetime status. Now thinking Turkish could be a safer option....

 

[Scarlett]

And then the first time you have to deal with TK for anything you'll wish you'd never started with them...

There is frustration and then there is TK frustration!

 

[33kft]

There is frustration and then there is TK frustration!

I could not in good conscience let someone suggest moving to TK without pointing out that on any given day, in IST, you can witness for yourself their customer service agents openly yelling at customers, or sitting in seats reclined back with their arms crossed like a petulant child. For most people I find they manage to slip through on a handful of flights without having to deal with TK, and then the minute they do it's like opening a door to another world. All you need to do is miss a connection in IST due to their delays and shocking security queues (even for intl connections) or call their HQ to see what I mean. I used to tolerate the odd TK flight until I decided to make my life better and just ban them entirely after a particularly poor experience.

 

[boomy]

I flew TK few times in recent years, never had any issues.
Found customer service friendly and ground services at IST (in case of missing luggage) very helpful. Looking forward to experience the new airport later this year.

 

[33kft]

So it looks like a stake in Asiana (33.5%) will be sold off by Kumho Group:

Asiana Airlines shares surge on report of parent group's stake sale

Shares in South Korea's Asiana Airlines rose more than 25 percent on Monday after local media reported that its parent group had agreed to sell a stake in the country's No.2 airline.

www.reuters.com

And have been extended an incredible $1.4bn in relief package by Korea Development Bank (I say incredible because their book value is $1.2bn):

Asiana Airlines credit placed on negative watch despite relief package

Asiana Airlines, South Korea’s distressed No. 2 carrier, was placed on a watchlist for a possible downgrade by a Korean credit rating agency on April 23, despite its creditors’ plan to extend a 1.6 trillion won ($1.4 billion) relief package the same day.Related:Asiana share price soars on...

www.theinvestor.co.kr

Which they may well need if they are indeed downgraded from BBB- as it will trigger a repayment clause for $1bn (1.1 trillion won) in loans. With a bond rating just above junk, debt-to-asset ratio of 649% and warnings of possible imminent downgrade triggering debt obligations, the sale of Kumho's stake which was the catalyst for the loan from KDB along with the cutting back of unprofitable routes might not be enough.

 

[Quickstatus]

So Asiana have announced they are keeping their A380s.
Say they will cut routes but none announced yet.
(LEAD) Asiana to keep A380s in fleet amid streamlining efforts | Yonhap News Agency

I suspect that like MH who tried to get rid of their A380, there will not be any buyers or anyone to take over any leases so might as well keep them. There is no secondary market for these behemoths.

 

[33kft]

Currently announced route cuts are:

ICN-UUS
ICN-KHV
ICN-ORD

The first two being flights to the Russian Federation and the 3rd being (somewhat surprisingly perhaps?) Chicago

 

[I love to travel]

Have an award flight in September from JFK to Bkk so slightly worried.
[/QUOTE]
All F is not available to book from 1 September which is the day I fly. Day before is bookable so going to try and ring Asiana on Monday and see whether they will shift me. It is a LM booking so not hopeful.

 

[boomy]

Looks like all F routes on Asiana are not available on points or cash from 1st September.

 

[Quickstatus]

Isnt F still available on A380?

 

[I love to travel]

Isnt F still available on A380?

No (hence why I asked re flight loadings earlier). Will be ringing Asiana tomorrow and will report back

 

[boomy]

Called Asiana in Korea, they confirmed no F availability from 1st Sep but couldn’t confirm if it’s temporary or permanent. I was advised to call back on Tuesday after their local holiday for more information.

 

[I love to travel]

Called Asiana in Korea, they confirmed no F availability from 1st Sep but couldn’t confirm if it’s temporary or permanent. I was advised to call back on Tuesday after their local holiday for more information.

Ok will wait until Tuesday. Has your booking disappeared from their manage my booking mine has

 

[boomy]

Ok will wait until Tuesday. Has your booking disappeared from their manage my booking mine has

Same, can’t access my booking on OZ site.

Once it becomes official I’ll talk with KF and see what can be done. OZ J soft product is very good so as long as they keep flying A380s the downgrade is not huge disaster in case no other F options are on the table.

 

[kpc]

Asiana Airlines Stops Selling First Class

Asiana Airlines has stopped selling first class on all flights as of September 1, 2019. What's going on with the airline?

onemileatatime.com

Lucky is onto it ....shame as 4 of us flew A380 F from JFK to ICN 2 years ago...I posted a TR on AFF too.

 

[drron]

And we are flying the A380 F from ICN-FRA in F in a weeks time.Back a month later.

 

[potm]

Official announcement out. They’ve copied MH and will be doing business suites.
Seats will be the same. Access to first class lounge. Looks like catering and amenities will be the same as business though.