As a result of the government's airline service assessment for the first half of this year, AIR BUSAN's international routes were the only Korean flag carrier to receive an A grade in the "operational reliability" institutional sector. In contrast, Air Premia received the lowest grade, "F++ (very poor)."
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on the 21st announced the results of the "first-half 2025 airline service assessment" of a total of 51 airlines, including 10 Korean flag carriers and 41 foreign airlines operating on domestic and international routes. The assessment was conducted based on operational reliability for domestic and international routes and the adequacy of user protection.
Operational reliability was evaluated by reflecting on-time performance and long-delay (1 hour or more for domestic, 2 hours or more for international) rates, with the long-delay rate included as an evaluation item for the first time this year. Accordingly, the A-grade threshold was also tightened from the previous 80 points or higher to more than 90 points.
On international routes, only AIR BUSAN received an A grade, Jeju Air was B++, and Korean Air and T'way Air were B+. AIR SEOUL remained at C. On domestic routes, most Korean flag carriers, including Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, AIR BUSAN, and T'way Air (B++), received strong evaluations, but Eastar Jet Co. was marked C+ due to the impact of delay times.
Among foreign airlines, 15 out of 41 (36.6%) received an A grade in the operational reliability institutional sector for international routes. All Nippon Airways (ANA) received A++, and Japan Airlines (JAL) and China Southern Airlines received A+, indicating relatively strong evaluations for Japanese and Chinese airlines.
In the user protection adequacy institutional sector, Korean Air and Asiana Airlines received the highest grade of A++. In contrast, Aero K and Air Premia were downgraded to B due to cases of failed compensation settlements. The average grade for foreign airlines rose one step to A from last year's B+.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) views these results as an interim check and plans to demand submission and implementation of improvement plans from underperforming airlines. The final assessment will be announced in May next year and is expected to be used for matters such as allocation of traffic rights.