KOREAN NATIONAL AIRLINES: South Korea (1947-1962). Korean National Airlines, started as a nonscheduled company by Capt. Yong Wook Shinn in 1945, receives the support of the Ministry of Transport in May 1947 to operate domestic services in the Republic of Korea. The initial fleet comprises Shinn’s 3 Stinson Voyagers. Several Stinson Model A Tri-Motors are also employed and services link the capital of Seoul with the seaboard communities of Kunsan, Kwangju, Chun-munjin, and Pusan.
Douglas DC-3s replace the Voyagers in April 1950. Service is, however, suspended following the North Korean invasion on June 25. All of the company’s planes, old and new, are commandeered by the Republic of China’s Ministry of Defense.
Following the cease-fire of July 1952, KNA’s DC-3s are returned and it is able to resume flights over its previous routes in November. Late in the year, international routes are opened from Seoul to Iwakuni and Tokyo with DC-4s chartered from the Taiwanese carrier Civil Air Transport, Ltd. (CAT) , then a proprietary company of the U. S. CIA.
Little significant change occurs during 1953-1961 as the domestic route network is improved; one Lockheed L-1049H is leased from Transocean Air Lines (TAL) to fly the Tokyo and Iwakuni route, which is extended down to Hong Kong.
En route from Pusan to Seoul on February 16, 1958, Flight 302, a DC-3 with 34 passengers, is seized by air pirates, reported to be North Korean agents, who order the aircraft flown to P’yongyang. Although the hostages are released within a month, the plane is not; thereafter, the South Koreans enact tighter airline security measures.
The carrier is reorganized on March 3, 1962, and is renamed Korean Air Lines/Korean Air (KAL).
KORSAR SOVIET AUSTRIAN JV AIRLINE (AVSTRISKOE SP AVIAKOMPANIYA KORSAR): Suvorov Square 1, Vnukovo Airport, Moscow, Moscow Region, 101000, Russia; Phone 7 (095) 2845618; Fax 7 (095) 281-2588;Http://www. olvit. iasnet. ru/transpor/kor-car/in. htm; Code 6K; Year Founded 1991. Korsar, presently known as Korsar Airlines, is founded as a joint Russian-Austrian airline at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport in 1991 to provide regional passenger and cargo services. Two-thirds of the company is owned by Russian and Austrian private concerns, while the remaining third is held by the Vnukovo Aviation Enterprise. Oleg V. Sham is appointed director general and he leases from the minority shareholder a fleet of 2 each
Tupolev Tu-154Ms, Tu-134s, and Yakovlev Yak-40s. These begin passenger charters throughout the new CIS on behalf of foreign and local concerns.
The fleet is doubled in size during 1992-1993 and Ilyushin Il-62s are added for long-haul charters. Among the companies and organizations serviced are Sumitomo, Shell, Conoco, Pechiney, the Louisiana Land Corporation, the International Moscow Bank, soccer teams, the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, and Procter & Gamble. To assist in the coordination of lift with charter groups, the company forms its own travel agency. New destinations visited include Siberia, France, Cyprus, Israel. Operations continue apace in 1994.
Flights continue in 1995-2000, during which years Sergei Cherem-nykh becomes director general and the fleet is increased by the addition of three Tu-154Ms and a Tu-134.
KOSMOS AND TRANSPORT AVIA (KIT KOSMOS E TRANSPORT AVIAKOMPANNIYA): Reisovaya St. 12, Vnukovo Airport 3, Moscow, 103027, Russia; Phone 7 (095) 436-4252; Fax 7 (095) 4364252; Code KSM; Year Founded 1992. K&TA is established in 1992 at Vnukovo Airport, Moscow, to provide domestic passenger and cargo charters on behalf of a local industry in need of hard currency. Later, the concern will be restricted to in-house operations.
I. I. Kanygin is named director general and he begins flights with a small and mixed fleet of 1 each Tupolev Tu-134, Yakovlev Yak-40, Antonov An-12, An-24, and An-26, plus 4 Mil Mi-8 helicopters.
By 2000, Director General Alexander N. Ilyukhin oversees the work of 250 employees and the flights of 1 each Antonov An-12 and An-26, an Ilyushin Il-76, and 3 Tupolev Tu-134As.
KOSTROMA AIR ENTERPRISE: Kostroma Airport, Kostroma, 156012, Russia; Phone 7 (09422) 553 651; Code KOST; Year Founded 1995. KAE is set up at Kostroma in 1995 to provide regional third-level passenger and cargo services, plus contract aerial work. Boris Anokhin is named CEO and scheduled flights commence with 9 Let L-410UVPs, 14 Antonov An-12s, 14 An-2s, and 14 Mil Mi-2 helicopters.
KOTLAS UNITED AIR DETACHMENT: Kotlas Airport, Arkhangelsk Region, 165400, Russia; Phone 7 (81837) 44555; Fax 7 (81837) 44269; Code KTS; Year Founded 1995. KUAD is established at Arkhangelsk in 1995 to operate regional third-level passenger and cargo services, plus contract aerial work. V. V. Dmitriev is named CEO and scheduled flights commence with 7 Yakovlev Yak-40s, 28 Antonov An-2 biplanes, and 6 Mil Mi-8 helicopters.
Dmitriev remains director general in 2000 and he oversees a fleet of 6 Yak-40s and 1 Yak 40K.
World History
