Asiana airlines post $72m net loss in Q2

South Korea's No. 2 flag airline Asiana Airlines said Friday it posted a net loss in the second quarter this year amid the protracted global economic slowdown. The net loss came to US$72 Million (80.1 Billion won) in the three months ended on June 30. This is a sharp fall from a net loss of US $33.504 Million (37.3 Billion won) tallied a year earlier, the carrier said in a regulatory filing, a Yonhap news agency report said today. Sales fell 4.1% on-year to US $1.230 Billion (1.37 Trillion won) in the April-June period. It added it swung to an operating loss in the second quarter of US $26.870 Million (29.9 Billion won), compared to an operating profit of US $34.961 Million (38.9 Billion won) a year earlier. The company said the decline in its earnings is mainly attributable to the falling demand for its logistics service amid the prolonged slump in the global economy, especially from the automobile and display sectors. Asiana added it plans to introduce two Airbus A330 passenger jets and one A321 aircraft in the second half of this year in a bid to boost its earnings.