South Korea's Eastar Jet targets 10 jets by late 2022

Korean gov’t launches probe into Eastar Jet finances

South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) has decided to go ahead with its plan to conduct an investigation into the finances of Eastar Jet (ESR, Seoul Gimpo) to see if any violations took place as the budget carrier sought government approval to obtain an Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) and relaunch flight operations. The probe could result in the revocation of its business licence, the ministry warned.

Financial statements published in May 2022 showed that Eastar had lapsed by the end of 2021 into a state of complete capital erosion - seen as a critical situation in South Korea in which the total amount of capital at a company falls below zero and erodes the paid-in capital.

According to the ministry, the restarting airline had failed to indicate this and submitted false accounting statements when applying for its AOC last year, certification for which the carrier is still waiting. The decision to press ahead with a probe follows a suggestion the ministry would do so in early July and will further delay the...

Korean gov't finds Eastar Jet filed false accounts in 2021

Seoul to probe Eastar Jet over “false documents”

The government of South Korea has said it will investigate Eastar Jet (ESR, Seoul Gimpo) over possible violations in the documentation it submitted to obtain approval for its Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC), further hampering the carrier’s relaunch plans.

Eastar Jet had already postponed its AOC application to the Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) last year as it sought backing from creditors following a lengthy bout of restructuring. After paying off some of these claims, it submitted accounting documents supporting its certification application to MOLIT in December.

But despite exiting restructuring in March and preparing to resume flight operations, it passed the demonstration and inspection phase of the AOC process only in early June. By the end of June, the ministry said there were still issues to be reviewed before granting certification but declined to disclose details, the Dong-A Ilbo newspaper reported at the time.

Eastar Jet said it had completed over 3,000 detailed inspections in 80 fields, including finance, staffing, facilities, safety evaluations, cabin crew testing, regulations, and organisational...

Korea’s Eastar Jet may not resume ops in 1H22 amid AOC delay