Asiana Airlines Inc., South Korea’s second-largest flag carrier, said Friday that it will suspend its flights to Hiroshima, Japan, until the end of this month in order to review safety measures.
The move comes after an Asiana passenger jet carrying 73 passengers skidded off the runway at Hiroshima Airport on Tuesday while landing, leaving 25 people slightly injured.
“We will suspend flights to and from Hiroshima, during which we will review the overall safety measures related to the Hiroshima route, airport facilities, planes and training,” the company said in an emailed press release.
The suspension will last until April 29, the company said.
Asiana Airlines said that it will do its best to minimize inconveniences that could be caused by the suspension by making a full refund to customers or adjusting routes to neighboring regions for those who have already booked flights to Hiroshima.
Asiana Airlines operates a flight to and from Hiroshima once a day, which has been suspended since the accident.
The airline has dispatched a team of investigators to the scene to determine the exact cause of the accident.
Some suspect that low visibility might have been the cause of the hard landing, citing light rain and fog reported around the airport at the time of the accident.
A high-ranking official in charge of security at Asiana Airlines said at a press conference held at the airport earlier in the day that a minimum amount of visibility for landing seemed to have been secured when the air traffic controller gave the green light for the plane to land.
He noted that the angle at which the plane entered the runway might not have been normal but added that the exact cause of the accident is still under investigation. (Yonhap)
