Second Special Passenger Cargo Flights Deployed to Japan and Germany

Joint Promotion by Ministry of Industry and Ministry of SMEs... Transportation of Protective Clothing, Automotive and Electronic Parts, Cosmetics, etc.

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] The Korea International Trade Association (KITA) announced on the 29th that it has jointly deployed emergency special passenger cargo flights to Japan and Germany with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.

On this day, a special flight to Narita, Japan was deployed, and on the 30th, a flight to Frankfurt, Germany will be deployed. This is the second special flight after those to Jakarta, Indonesia, and Chongqing, China at the end of April.

To Narita, 17 tons of cargo from 10 companies, including cosmetics, manufacturing process robots, and cotton masks, were transported. To Frankfurt, 23 tons of cargo from 12 companies, including medical protective suits, automotive parts, and electronic components, are scheduled to be transported.

The deployment of special flights was arranged to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) whose export routes were blocked after major countries around the world suspended international passenger flights and implemented foreigner entry restrictions to prevent the inflow of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) into their countries.

The regions for the second special flight, Narita and Frankfurt, were finally selected after government ministries, airlines, forwarders, and other logistics-related organizations jointly inspected the status of air logistics.

The special flight cargo freight rates were set at about 75% of the market price to reduce the burden on small and medium export companies, and KITA, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, and the Small and Medium Business Corporation supported the discounted freight rates. Economic organizations such as the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Federation of Korean Industries, and the Korea Federation of SMEs, as well as related organizations including the Small and Medium Business Corporation and KOTRA, also supported the recruitment of companies participating in this special charter flight. Korean Air and Asiana Airlines operated the charter flights, while Hanjin and Pactline International handled cargo collection.

Hanjin Hyun, Vice Chairman of KITA, said, "According to the association’s second-quarter export industry outlook survey, export companies cited ‘economic downturn in export countries’ (17.2%) and ‘increased logistics costs’ (10.8%) as major difficulties," adding, "As a result of actively proposing related difficulties to the government and discussing alternatives, the second special charter flight was able to be organized."