Korean Air is cautiously optimistic about recent political developments vis-à-vis North Korea, with the easing of tensions helping the general visitor environment for South Korea. Last year saw a rapprochement of sorts between the two Koreas, with summits between South Korean president Moon Jae-in and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, in addition to a June summit between US president Donald Trump and Kim in Singapore. The warming of ties has generated hopes of increased business activity between the two Koreas – although much progress has yet to be made on dismantling North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme. In response to a reporter’s question about improving conditions on the peninsula, Korean Air CE Walter Cho was reluctant to discuss politics, but welcomesd a less volatile political situation. “As a Korean it's a relief just as it is,” he says. “For the business it's a very good sign. When the tension was at the highest the interest in Korea was the tension, and not Korea itself. People would try to avoid Korea. That was a very critical situation for the 2018 Winter Olympics [in PyeongChang] as well, but fortunately everything became very calm and is going in the right direction. If everything turns out well we'll have a very big opportunity into North Korea.”<br/>
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Delta hopes to add new service to Shanghai Pudong from its Minneapolis/St Paul hub in 2020, even as American Airlines plans to put two of its China routes on hold. The carrier plans to launch a new daily flight between Minneapolis and Shanghai with a 306-seat Airbus A350-900 from June 2020, it says in an application to the US Department of Transportation today. It would need seven US-China zone one frequencies, which limit service to Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai, for the route. "The proposed flights will provide Minneapolis and St Paul area customers with the first nonstop service to China and enhance service at Delta’s hub at MSP, expanding connecting service options for consumers across the Upper Midwest and the United States," says Delta in its application. The new service would also connect to the networks of Delta's partners China Eastern and Shanghai Airlines beyond Pudong airport. The US carrier owns a 3.5% stake in China Eastern that it acquired in 2015.<br/>