S.Korea's regulator delays decision on Jin Air's new plane -report

Jin Air Co

13/07/2018 14:31

SEOUL, July 13 (Reuters) - South Korea has delayed a
decision on whether to approve budget airline Jin Air Co Ltd's
 272450.KS  request to add a new plane to its fleet, newspaper
Kyunghyang Shinmun reported on Friday. 
    Jin Air, an affiliate of Korean Air Lines Co Ltd
 003490.KS , wants to register a new Boeing 737 aircraft
borrowed from Korean Air, but under South Korean aviation
regulations must obtain permission from the government to expand
its fleet.
    Kyunghyang Shinmun said the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure
and Transport had held off on making a decision on Thursday.   
    The reported delay in making a decision comes amid an
investigation by the ministry into whether Jin Air violated
aviation regulations by appointing a non-Korean - controlling
family member Emily Cho - as a board director.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1TU1XI
    Cho, 35, is a U.S. citizen and the youngest daughter of
Korean Air Lines Co Ltd Chairman Cho Yang-ho. 
    However, Emily Cho is no longer a board director, having
stepped down as an executive at Korean Air and Jin Air after she
allegedly threw water at an attendee of a business meeting,
reigniting public anger at the bad behaviour of families
controlling the country's biggest conglomerates.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1SG14V
    Jin Air confirmed that it had submitted a request to the
ministry to register an additional plane, but declined to
comment on the ministry's decision. The transport ministry was
not immediately available for comment.
    

 (Reporting by Heekyong Yang and Ju-min Park
Editing by Susan Fenton)
 ((Heekyong.Yang@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 3704 5647; Reuters
Messaging: heekyong.yang.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))