News / T’way targets more cargo business ahead of KAL-Asiana mega-LCC take-off

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South Korea’s T’way Air is targeting more air freight business as the first low-cost carrier (LCC) to react to potentially more competition from Korean Air’s (KAL) takeover of Asiana Airlines.

Last Thursday, following approval from EU and US antitrust authorities, KAL completed its $1.3bn acquisition of a 63.88% stake in debt-hit Asiana, a move encouraged by the South Korean government. The carriers’ respective LCC subsidiaries, Jin Air and Air Busan, are expected to be consolidated.

Around the same time, T’way announced it would engage in direct sales to get more cargo business.

Previously, T’way, which was established in 2010 as a result of the restructuring and rebranding of Hansung Airlines, engaged forwarders for freight sales.

Having started off with domestic flights, T’way now flies from Seoul to China, Taiwan, Japan, Spain, Germany, France, Croatia, Italy, Guam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Kyrgyzstan, and Mongolia.

It has no freighters, but said it would be in a position to carry more belly cargo after taking delivery of two B777-300ERs and one A330-200 in the first half of next year. The B777 has 30% more belly cargo space than the A330 T’way has been using for cargo transport.

T’way has been growing its cargo business since Covid caused surging demand for air freight as more people shopped online and ocean shipping experienced logistical bottlenecks. On the other hand, air travel tanked as tourism ground to a halt.

T’way began seeing profits after strategically deploying the A330 for flights to Singapore, Bangkok and Sydney, where both passenger and cargo demand remain strong. Heavy items such as electronic components, automobile parts and machinery were transported in unit load devices.

T’way’s cargo business generated turnover of KRW22.4bn ($17.3m) in 2023, more than trebling from KRW5.7bn in 2021, as cargo volumes jumped more than fourfold, to 16,800 tonnes.

This year, the addition of European routes is expected to bring cargo volumes to more than 19,000 tonnes.