Asiana set to raise its fleet to 88

Asiana Airlines Inc., South Korea's No. 2 carrier, plans to raise its fleet to 88 by 2015 to meet growing demand for long-range routes and become a major global player, a company executive said Friday. "Our long-term goal is to become the 10th biggest air carrier in the world in terms of operating margin," said Kim Ebae, Asiana's senior vice president for strategic planning, said in a session at the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines conference held in Seoul. "To achieve the goal, we will expand our size. We now have a fleet of 71 planes in 2011. The figure will increase to 83 in 2013 and to 88 in 2015." Asiana posted 148.1 billion won (US$133.4 million) in operating profit for the first half of this year, down 47 percent from a year earlier, due to a drop in the number of air passengers stemming mainly from Japan's March earthquake. "Profitability of an air carrier is easily affected by external factors. Ours also has fluctuated widely," said Kim.