Korean Air has announced record operating revenue for the second quarter of the year, which was up 36.7 per cent on the same period of last year.
The South Korean airline said revenue for the period up to the end of June hit 2,836.4 billion KRW (£1.5bn), the highest second quarter revenue in its history.
The airline turned a second quarter loss of 127.3 billion KRW (£68m) in 2009 into a 352.1 billion KRW (£190m) profit during the second quarter of 2010.
Operating revenue for the six months up to June 30 was 5,435.4 billion KRW (£2.9bn), up 25.3 per cent year on year, while operating profit reached 572.3 billion KRW (£309m), up from a loss of 120.7 billion KRW (£65m) in the first half of last year.
The airline said passenger numbers had grown continuously since the second half of last year, due to a rapid growth of leisure travel for short-haul routes such as China, where passenger revenue rose 50 per cent, Japan and southeast Asian regions.
The airline said it had also benefited from a visa waiver programme for Korean passengers to the US.
By Linsey McNeill
