[THE INVESTOR] Korean Air President Cho Won-tae on Sept. 15 hinted that the nation’s largest flag carrier would consider further reducing flights to China amid the prolonged diplomatic tension between Seoul and Beijing over THAAD deployment.

“The THAAD crisis is expected to continue for some time,” he said at a tourism industry meeting. “We have already reduced sizeable number of flights to China but are considering a further reduction in case of a prolonged situation.”

The CEO, however, downplayed any significant business impact from the flight cuts, citing the small portion of its Chinese sales. Last year, sales from the Chinese routes made up 13 percent of Korean Air’s total revenue, as against its crosstown rival Asiana Airlines’ 21.4 percent.

“While minimizing the impact from reduced flights, we will continue to maintain the key routes. There is no serious impact as travel destinations of Korean consumers are getting more diversified,” he added, predicting strong overall earnings this year.

Cho also had high expectations for the business outlook of the firm’s Wilshire Grand Hotel in Los Angeles that opened in June. “More hotels are opening in Los Angeles. Earnings will grow when more offices are filled,” he said.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)