Korean Air's Budget Arm Named 'Jin Air'
By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter

Korean Air's budget affiliate has disclosed its corporate identity (CI) along with new name ``Jin Air.''

Jin Air, which will start operation of the Gimpo-Jeju route on July 17, made public its image, models of aircraft and cabin crew uniform at an inauguration ceremony held in downtown Seoul Sunday.

The carrier has abandoned the tentative name of Air Korea and adopted Jin Air, which has the same pronunciation as the Chinese character meaning ``truth'' and ``sincerity.'' Its slogan is ``Fly, better fly ― Jin Air.''

Pursuing ``freshness'' and ``pragmatism,'' the budget airline showed unconventionality in many aspects.

The logo is a butterfly in blue and purple with a yellowish green background ― the butterfly signifies that passengers can fly freely wherever they want. The carrier's B737-800 aircraft is colored in the yellowish green, a rare color among airlines.

Flight attendants have jeans and T-shirt as their uniform, the first of its kind in Korea. It is part of efforts to provide intimacy to passengers and help them travel in comfort, a Korean Air official said.

The airline also gave its crew the nickname of ``Jini'' ― pilots will be called ``Jini pilot,'' flight attendants, ``Jini flying mate,'' and ground crew, ``Jini ground staff.''

Flights will cost on average 80% of usual Korean Air flights.

Though starting dates have not yet been announced the new carrier plans to soon fly from Seoul to Busan and Busan to Jeju as well.