By Hyunjoo Jin and Dan Catchpole
SEOUL/SEATTLE (Reuters) – Earlier than it suffered the deadliest crash in South Korea’s historical past, price range airline Jeju Air was shifting quick: racking up report passenger numbers and flying its plane greater than home rivals and plenty of of its world friends, information present.
The excessive “utilisation rate” of Jeju Air’s planes – the variety of hours they fly in a day – will not be problematic in itself, specialists say, however means scheduling sufficient time for required upkeep is essential.
Authorities have recommended a chicken strike contributed to the accident, however as a part of their probe into the incident aboard Boeing (NYSE:) 737-800, police have raided the airways’ Seoul workplace to grab paperwork associated to the operation and upkeep of the airplane.
“You’re literally looking at everything,” mentioned aviation security and crash investigation knowledgeable Anthony Brickhouse. “You’re going to start off with their accident history and safety history. What kind of events have they had in the past, what happened, what was done to correct the issues?”
Jeju Air instructed Reuters that it didn’t neglect upkeep procedures and that it will step up its security efforts. The Dec. 29 crash, which killed 179 individuals, was the airline’s first deadly accident since its 2005 founding and the primary for any Korean airline in additional than a decade.
The corporate’s CEO, Kim E-bae – who has been barred from travelling abroad through the investigation – instructed a information convention final week that Jeju’s upkeep is according to regulatory requirements and that there have been no upkeep points with the doomed jet throughout pre-flight inspection.
He acknowledged the airline’s security measures had not been ample prior to now, however mentioned enhancements had been made.
The authorities haven’t mentioned poor upkeep contributed to the crash and the precise circumstances behind the catastrophe stay unclear.
In addition to the reported chicken strike, authorities are wanting into why the pilot could have rushed a second touchdown try after declaring an emergency, and why the touchdown gear was not deployed.
Investigators have recovered the cockpit and flight information recorders however haven’t launched any particulars.
The nation’s transport regulator is inspecting all 101 737-800s in South Korea – greater than a 3rd of that are operated by Jeju Air – specializing in how usually and the way effectively the planes had been maintained, amongst different issues.
Though it had recorded no violations within the final two years, it was hit with extra fines and suspensions for aviation legislation breaches than any of its home rivals in 2020-2022, simply throughout and after the COVID-19 pandemic, data present.
Based on transport ministry information on main airways from 2020 to August 2024, Jeju Air was hit by about 2.3 billion received ($1.57 million) in fines and the affected plane had been saved out of operation for a complete of 41 days, in line with Reuters calculations primarily based on the info.
The subsequent-most penalized airline, T’means Air, had 2.1 billion received in fines and 4 days of suspended operation throughout that interval.
Jeju Air flies its planes greater than another main airline within the nation, information present, and likewise outpaces most world friends reminiscent of Eire’s Ryanair and Malaysia’s AirAsia.
Jeju Air 7C2216 was flying from the Thai capital of Bangkok to Muan in southwestern South Korea at night time when it belly-landed, overshot the runway and burst into flames after hitting an embankment. The plane flew on daily basis in 2024, in line with flight information reviewed by Reuters.
UTILISATION RATES
Excessive utilisation charges are prized within the business as an indicator of financial effectivity, particularly at low-cost carriers, specialists say.
Jeju Air, which ranks behind solely Korean Air and Asiana Air when it comes to passenger volumes within the nation, noticed report numbers from January to December 2024, in line with transport ministry information.
Its month-to-month utilisation hours for passenger jets practically doubled to 412 in 2023 from 2022, increased than Korean Air at 332 hours and Asiana Airways at 304 hours, in line with inventory change filings.
T’means averaged 366 hours per thirty days in passenger and cargo jets mixed, Jin Air (KS:) averaged 349 hours, and Air Busan 319 hours, in line with their filings.
In 2024, Jeju Air flew its airplanes extra every day – 11.6 hours – than nearly another airline providing low-cost tickets and flying solely narrowbody plane, in line with information from aviation analytics firm Cirium, which calculates utilisation charges otherwise from the earnings filings.
Solely Saudi Arabia’s Air Arabia flew its planes extra – 12.5 hours a day. Vietnam’s VietJet flew its planes 10 hours a day. Ryanair’s common use was 9.3 hours, whereas Malaysia’s AirAsia was 9 hours. China’s Spring Airways flew 8 hours a day.
“The utilisation itself is not a problem,” mentioned Sim Jai-dong, a professor of plane upkeep at Sehan College in South Korea. “But there could be higher fatigue for pilots, crew members and mechanics given the higher utilisation rates.”
($1 = 1,453.9500 received)
