AMERIJET, a mid-tier Miami cargo airline, has asked the US Department of Transportation to block Korean Air's application to fly business jets to America after Korean Air blocked Amerijet's request to offer service to South Korea, reports New York's FreightWaves.
The move stymied Korean Air's US$1.4 billion merger plan with struggling Asiana Airlines, saying the Department of Justice should consider the airline's behaviour toward amerijet as part of its antitrust investigation.
Korean Air in August objected to Amerijet's application for scheduled authority, dragging out a process that has lasted nearly seven months and making it more expensive to do business in Korea, the US carrier said.
Amerijet urged US regulators not to take action on K-Aviation's request for market access until the Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) grants permission for it to provide regular service at Seoul Incheon airport.
Amerijet currently operates a route multiple times per week via Seoul as a contractor to Maersk Air Cargo, but the business arrangement faces uncertainty because the Korean government has only issued temporary licences to operate ad hoc charter flights.
'As a result of Korean's comments and MOLIT's inaction, Amerijet has been relegated to operating charter flights to Korea. This requires monthly applications and approvals, which are costly to make and often not given until the last moment. Amerijet's application for November charter flights is now pending before MOLIT,' Amerijet said in the filing.
Korean Air has 23 freighters in its fleet, including seven Boeing 747-8s and a dozen 777 aircraft. It is the world's fifth-largest cargo carrier by volume. It is the third-largest carrier when express parcel carriers FedEx and UPS are excluded. Asiana operates 10 Boeing 747 freighters and one 767.
Amerijet has 984 employees, down about 100 people from a year-ago, according to the latest data from the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Some of the difference is likely from new-hire pilots that didn't successfully make it through the company's training programme.
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The move stymied Korean Air's US$1.4 billion merger plan with struggling Asiana Airlines, saying the Department of Justice should consider the airline's behaviour toward amerijet as part of its antitrust investigation.
Korean Air in August objected to Amerijet's application for scheduled authority, dragging out a process that has lasted nearly seven months and making it more expensive to do business in Korea, the US carrier said.
Amerijet urged US regulators not to take action on K-Aviation's request for market access until the Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) grants permission for it to provide regular service at Seoul Incheon airport.
Amerijet currently operates a route multiple times per week via Seoul as a contractor to Maersk Air Cargo, but the business arrangement faces uncertainty because the Korean government has only issued temporary licences to operate ad hoc charter flights.
'As a result of Korean's comments and MOLIT's inaction, Amerijet has been relegated to operating charter flights to Korea. This requires monthly applications and approvals, which are costly to make and often not given until the last moment. Amerijet's application for November charter flights is now pending before MOLIT,' Amerijet said in the filing.
Korean Air has 23 freighters in its fleet, including seven Boeing 747-8s and a dozen 777 aircraft. It is the world's fifth-largest cargo carrier by volume. It is the third-largest carrier when express parcel carriers FedEx and UPS are excluded. Asiana operates 10 Boeing 747 freighters and one 767.
Amerijet has 984 employees, down about 100 people from a year-ago, according to the latest data from the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Some of the difference is likely from new-hire pilots that didn't successfully make it through the company's training programme.
SeaNews Turkey
