Asiana Airlines, S. Korea’s second largest carrier, has been selling macadamia nuts as an in-flight duty-free item, perhaps gloating over its archrival Korean Air’s “nut rage” scandal, in which Cho Hyun-ah (the eldest daughter of Korean Air Chairman Cho Yang-ho) humiliatingly ended up serving time.
Industry watchers think that Asiana Airlines started to sell macadamia nuts to capitalize on the growing popularity of macadamia nuts at the tail of the “nut rage” incident.
Some view it as Asiana Airlines’ deliberate snub to Korean Air because the two carriers came into conflict when the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) ordered Asiana Airlines to suspend its flights to San Francisco for 45 days, as a penalty for ignoring safety rules during a crash in July 2014.
Asiana Airlines has been selling an assortment of three different types of macadamia nuts for US$ 33 on board since August, according to Asiana Airlines on August 24. “Suppliers of duty-free goods first came up with the idea of selling macadamia nuts on board. It has nothing to do with Korean Air,” said an official from Asiana Airlines.
The two carriers are considered as bickering arch-foes. For example, when the MOLIT ordered Asiana Airlines to suspend its San Francisco routes for 45 days in November 2014, Korean Air snapped at the MOLIT for slapping its archrival on the wrist.
“In punishing Asiana Airlines, the MOLIT has shown the utmost leniency allowed under the law. Such a slap on the wrist is unacceptable. The MOLIT did apply an “Asiana law,” not the Aviation Act,” Korean Air fumed.
Korean Air Chairman Cho Yang-ho also expressed his displeasure with the decision, saying, “A law is a law. Laws are made to be observed.”
Korean Air’s such stinging comments came after Asiana Airlines’ labor unions, Korean-American groups and 43 member airlines of the Star Alliance network had petitioned the MOLIT not to impose heavy sanctions on Asiana Airlines.
However, Asiana Airlines reacted exactly the same when Korean Air was ordered to suspend its flights to Guam for three months in the aftermath of the 1997 Korean Air crash in Guam that killed 229 people.
When Korean Air was given access to the lucrative Incheon-Shanghai route back in 2004, Asiana Airlines filed a lawsuit seeking cancellation of the air traffic rights allocation.
