SEOUL, KOREA - Korean Airlines, which was recently mired in controversy over an incident where a Korean corporate executive smacked a female flight attendant, suffered a decline in the number of international flight passengers in April 2013, the first decline in 23 months.
The Incheon International Airport Corp. announced on May 15 that the number of passengers using Korean Air's international flights stood at 1,068,553 in April 2013, down 4.6 percent or 51,783 from a year ago.
This is the first time for Korean Air to suffer a decline in the number of passengers for its international flights since May 2011. The April figure represents the lowest since November 2011 when the number of passengers using its international flights stood at 1,067,631.
There are some who point out the flight attendant fiasco as the main reason for the decline. Korean Air, however, said that the drop was mainly due to the North Korean nuclear hostility and the weakness in the yen's value.
