South Korea: Govt ends mandatory use of flagship carriers

The South Korean government on Thursday abolished a rule obliging its employees to use either Korean Air or Asiana Airlines for official overseas trips. Observers say the measure was taken because the Korean Air owner family's misbehaviour angered the public. According to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and the Ministry of Personnel Management, the government decided to end its Government Transportation Request (GTR) system after using it for 40 years. Under the GTR common carrier transportation services were procured for all government officials. The government has signed GTR deals with Korean Air in September 1980 and Asiana Airlines in August 1990 and "obliges official travellers to use (Korean) national carriers," under an order from the prime minister. The ministries said the government has been retaining the system because it allows the government to secure urgent tickets, change seats and cancel tickets without additional fees, which can be up to 30% of the ticket price, but decided to end the system due to "circumstantial changes" surrounding overseas official trips. In 1980, Korean Air was the only domestic airline, but the country has eight carriers now, with 93 airlines currently flying from and to Korea. The number of outbound Koreans also grew 78 times to 2.65m last year from 340,000 in 1980.<br/>