Asiana Airlines announced on the 17th that it will reduce some European routes starting at the end of April.
This reduction is part of the corrective measures required by the European Union (EU) competition authorities to alleviate concerns about monopoly in European routes. Asiana Airlines suspended ticket sales for the routes scheduled for reduction immediately after the incorporation into Korean Air in December last year.
Asiana Airlines will reduce the Incheon-Rome route from five times a week to four times a week starting on the 25th, and from the Incheon-Frankfurt route, it will cut the service from seven times a week to four times a week starting on the 30th. The Incheon-Paris route will also be reduced from six times a week to five times a week starting on May 12.
Some of the operational rights for Asiana Airlines' three European routes (Frankfurt, Paris, Rome) will be transferred to a national airline, ensuring that the capacity of national airlines on European routes remains unchanged.
Asiana Airlines will inform customers with existing reservations about the changing flight schedules separately and will announce related notifications on its official website. Following this, the airline will provide support for ▲destination and date change requests ▲refund and reissuance fee waivers ▲alternative flights on other airlines.
Asiana Airlines has formed a dedicated task force for customer service and will operate a dedicated hotline for affected customers. For customers who purchased tickets through travel agencies or online travel platforms, refunds and reservation changes will be processed through the point of purchase.
An official from Asiana Airlines said, “We apologize for the inconvenience caused to our customers,” and noted, “We plan to actively support customers by changing reservations to their preferred schedules or providing alternative flights on other airlines to ensure there are no disruptions to their travels.”