Korean Airlines Submit Flight Plans to Beijing

Korean airlines have started supplying their flight schedules to China after Beijing announced a controversial new air defense identification zone last month.

Korean Air said it started submitting flight schedules to Chinese civil aviation authorities on Dec. 12 for planes flying over the zone.

More than 70 Korean Air flights a day pass through China's air defense identification zone en route to Bangkok, Guam, Hong Kong and Sydney.

Asiana, which operates around 50 flights a day through the new zone, also began filing their flight schedules. Smaller carriers Jeju Air and Eastar Jet have followed suit.

An Asiana spokesman said the decision was made "in consideration of passengers’ concerns."

The government originally declined to recognize the Chinese zone where it overlaps with Korean-controlled airspace and said Korean carriers need not comply.

But it then announced its own expanded air defense identification zone on Dec. 8 that overlaps with the Chinese zone, and left it to airlines to decide whether they want to submit their flight schedules to Beijing.

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