South Korea's second largest carrier, Asiana Airlines, is cutting its daily routes from Seoul Incheon International Airport to London Heathrow to just five flights per week.

Changes to the route

Asiana Airlines had previously offered travel seven days a week to London Heathrow, but the latest from Business Traveller suggests that Monday and Wednesday services on the route are to be removed. A look at Asiana's website shows that, after 28th October this year, the airline will only fly Tuesdays and then again on Thursday to Sunday from Seoul Incheon International.

Currently, the service operates:

  • Seoul Incheon (ICN) departure at 14:30 arriving into London Heathrow (LHR) at 18.50
  • LHR departure at 20:50 arriving into ICN at 15.50 (+ 1 day)

The new departure will be fairly similar, although slightly shorter:

  • ICN departure at 14.30 arriving at LHR at 18:00
  • LHR departure at 20.10 arriving at ICN at 16.05 (+ 1 day)

The route is operated by the Airbus A350 of which Asiana owns nine in the -900 series. The airline acquired its first in 2017 and has been building out its fleet since then, receiving its last in June 2019. The aircraft, which seat 311 passengers, are currently flying routes to Vietnam, North America and Japan, among others.

Despite this, whilst other airlines are making more connections to London Heathrow, it seems to defy logic that Asiana Airlines is pulling out services whilst it strives to become the "world's greatest airline".

Why is Asiana reducing its London Heathrow services? Photo: Asiana Airlines

Potential trouble ahead?

Recently, Asiana Airlines has found itself in deep water. Back in April, Simple Flying reported that Asiana Airlines was making cuts to its services and fleet whilst it was reported to be receiving $1.4bn in finanacial support.

Ever elusive in sharing information, Asiana did not provide much information about its financial difficulties. At the time, its CEO Han Chang-Soo said only that he hoped the cost-cutting measures would "restore trust", according to Reuters, and did not elaborate on the specific route cancellations.

Back to the present day and Business Traveller said that it believed the two slots on the Seoul to London Heathrow route have been leased to Middle Eastern airline Kuwait Airways. Decisions like this spell out trouble. But in recent months, Asiana Airlines has continued to pour out positive announcements.

Asiana going from strength to strength

It still flies a fleet 85 aircraft strong, including 19 Airbus A321s, 15 A330s and 13 Boeing 747s. It offers 73 international passenger routes to 21 countries and an additional 11 domestic routes within South Korea.

Asiana Airlines is continuing to prosper amid fears of financial difficulties. Photo: Asiana Airlines

But this is not the only sign of better days to come. In July, Simple Flying reported that Asiana Airlines had applied for a second daily flight to JFK New York, hoping that the service would begin operating from 24th November this year. The 14-hour flight currently operates from Seoul ICN to JFK at 10:20 arriving at 11:35 on an Airbus A380.

However, the airline is now selling tickets for the second service to JFK at 20:25 arriving at New York at 20:20. The earlier service will operate at 10:50 arriving into JFK at 10:50 and both services will be flown by its Airbus A350.

Asiana's Seoul ICN to Jakarta flight will also see an upgrade with the A330s being swapped for A350s which suggests that the airline is not suffering as badly as it was previously thought. Could profitability be to blame for Asiana's decision to cut its Seoul to Heathrow service? Whatever its reason, one thing can be certain: Asiana is showing no signs of giving up the fight.