SEOUL, KOREA - Korean Airlines said on May 15 that it posted operating profit of 21.2 billion won for the first quarter, a turnaround from a loss in the fourth quarter last year. During the same period, its sales revenue was 2,896.9 billion won, up 1.8 percent. But its net profit was a deficit of 155.8 billion won, lower than that in the previous quarter.

 

 

In its passenger segment, the revenue passenger kilometers, a measure of traffic for an airline flight calculated by multiplying the number of revenue-paying passengers by the distance traveled, in Chinese flight lines increased 11 percent from the same quarter a year ago. Due to a strong won, the number of outbound passengers has increased 4 percent.

 

As for the cargo segment, revenue freight ton kilometers rose in all destinations. The Southeast Asian routes saw its freight ton kilometers increase 16 percent from a year ago, while those for Japan and the Americas rose 14 percent and 10 percent, respectively. The airliner forecast the same trend to go on in the second quarter.

 

A Korean Air official said, "We expect the passenger numbers to rise during the May holiday season. In the freight segment, we expect an increase in traffic due to launch of major technology products and the Brazil World Cup games to be open in June."