Asiana Airlines to offer only economy and business class seats

Asiana Airlines has announced that it is going to stop offering first class seats on all its aircrafts except four super jumbos effective from 2017. The airline will now be offering only economy class and business class seats to its customers.

Kim Soo-cheon, CEO of Asiana Airlines, said, “The airline has been struggling with relatively low demand for first class seats as compared to other airlines. The company has now decided to offer first class seats only on its four Airbus A380 aircrafts.”

Asiana Airlines is presently the second largest flagship carrier of South Korea. The airline will be eliminating nearly all its first class seats on long-haul international flights to offset mounting losses.

The maintenance of first class seats in any airline is considered to be an expensive business usually leading to high costs. However, most international airlines continue to offer first class cabins despite low occupancy rates.

Even though Asiana Airlines has indicated that it will completely do away with first class cabins in all aircrafts in its fleet, except four Airbus super jumbos, its main rival Korean Air has said that its premium customers will continue to book first class tickets on most international flights being operated by it.

Asiana Airlines presently has 74 aircrafts in its fleet, of which only 20 first seats are being offered, while 12 others are being offered on a mono-class basis.

Media reports said that Asiana Airlines is planning to purchase two more Airbus A380 aircrafts and would be offering first class seats on its flights to Los Angeles, New York and Frankfurt. Other international carriers such as Turkish Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines and Air Canada have recently stopped offering first class cabins.