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Korea's airlines are working on plans to increase the amount of cargo they carry. One method is to focus on transporting seasonal items. "We respond to seasonal cargo demand by operating cargo flights dedicated to moving cherries from the U.S. in spring, tulips from the Netherlands in summer, and bottles of Beaujolais Nouveau in fall," said a Korean Air official.
According to Korean Air, the route between Seoul and Oslo, Norway is called the "salmon route" since more than 100 tons of salmon is moved via this circuit per week from Oslo to Japan, which has strong demand for the fish. Asiana Airlines also moved 1,080 tons of U.S. cherries to Korea, Japan and Hong Kong this spring and summer, and it has orders to carry 1,100 tons or 930,000 bottles of Beaujolais Nouveau to Japan.
Korean Air, which boasts the world airline industry's largest cargo volume, is known for transporting special loads that are not easy to handle. In August, Korean Air moved an 18-m, 29-ton oil pipe as well as a 40-ton power generator. It also transported 18 Burmese rock snakes, which measure 5 m long and 100 cm in circumference.
Asiana, which lags Korean Air in cargo volume, is strengthening its cargo business this year. The airline expects its cargo volume to increase by 13,000 tons from last year to 678,277 tons. Asiana is also aiming to top W1 trillion (US$1=W907) in cargo sales this year.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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