Story & photo by Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco
RECENTLY assigned regional manager of Asiana Airlines for the Philippines Teh Kee-phal is inclined to believe that, in his past reincarnations, he was a Filipino.
“I strongly feel that I was a Pinoy in my former life,” Teh claimed, who was effusive of his praises to his current country of assignment.
He arrived here—on January 23, to be exact—to start his tenure as the head of local operations for the Korean carrier. But he had been in our shores back in 2015, and has noted the flurry of significant developments unfolding in the country.
The Korean professed his “love” for the Philippines, which, according to him, was a result of the people’s warmth, the tropical climate and, of course, their trademark cuisine, particularly, “kare-kare and adobo.”
“This is my first time in Manila, but I’ve been to Cebu and Palawan [during my first visit],” he revealed, as this is his initial assignment outside Korea.
Teh also told the BusinessMirror’s Envoys&Expats that his current post would present an opportunity to live in a country outside his native South Korea.
“I’m eager to start my new life here in the Philippines,” he professed.
Tough competition
FOR his first order of work, Teh had extensively reviewed the accomplishments of his predecessor Cho Yong-han. Thus, he is now developing marketing strategies to maximize the revenues and profits of the company.
“The airline competition here in the Philippines is getting tougher. There are some companies who also want to fly [the Manila-to-Korea route]. They are just waiting for the air congestion problem to be resolved,” the Asiana Airlines executive explained.
His marching orders are to “boost the Manila and Incheon path,” which is seen to generate profits for the carrier.
“I think it is very important to raise the [level of] interest on our company and let Filipinos know more about it, ” he emphasized, as he expressed confidence that Asiana can carryover in the Philippines its reputation as a global five-star airline.
Teh went on to detail the accolades received by Asiana in recent past:
In 2009 Asiana received the Airline of the Year award from Air Transportation World, the most-coveted Skytrax Award in 2010 and another one in 2015 for being the World’s Best Economy Class.
Asiana became part of the International Air Transport Association in 2002 and Star Alliance in 2003.
The Korean executive boasted that Asiana has a well-trained flight crew, and is a leader in its industry when it comes to customer engagement. Such is a testament to their “unsurpassed level of service, without compromise,” as stated in its company profile.
Pursuing safety is also the company’s utmost priority, as they are working to become the “world’s greatest airline.”
Airbus fleet
ASIANA Airlines first took to the skies in 1998, as it aimed for “maximum safety and customer satisfaction through service.”
After 25 years, it now operates a fleet of 83 aircraft, making them one of the world’s top airlines.
On May 15, 2017, the new eco-friendly Airbus 350-900 completed its maiden flight from Incheon, South Korea, to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
With the new state-of-the-art aircraft, Asiana is expected to cut the “overall operating costs, and carbon dioxide emissions will be 25 percent lower than others.”
The main fleet of Asiana will comprise of A350 aircraft. Starting from four A350s in 2017, the airline will add more planes of the same kind every year until 2025. The entire number of A350s will be more than 20.
Asiana’s A350 is configured with a three-class layout with a total of 311 seats. It is comprised of 28 seats in Business Smartium that are convertible to full-flat beds, 36 in Economy Smartium and 247 in the main cabin.
Altogether, Asiana has ordered 30 A350s and will initially operate the aircraft on flights within Asia.
The Korean airline operates three hubs in the Philippines: Manila, Clark and Cebu. It flies twice to Incheon, another to Busan, as well as other flights from Clark and Cebu to Incheon.
It is one of South Korea’s two major carriers and operates in 14 domestic and 90 international flights across Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania.
Figures in flight
REGARDING tourism figures from both sides, Teh crunches the numbers easily and knows them like the palm of his hand.
He said that in 2016, the total number of Korean tourists who entered the country—some of whom the airline company had helped bring in—made up about 25 percent of the total foreign visitors for that year.
Teh added that during the period, his compatriots who visited the Philippines totaled 1,475,081, while Filipinos who toured Korea were recorded at 556,745.
“And the numbers are increasing,” he disclosed. His base reference was 2012, where the figures reflected 1,031,155 Koreans who came to the country, while there were 331,346 Filipinos who booked entries to Korea.
The airline executive shared that he will bank on social media to create hype for the airline brand, cognizant of the fact Filipinos are savvy on the digital platform.
“I am also planning to join various expos, which we are currently doing, and also conduct familiarization tours,” he further stated.
High on Hallyu
SUPERVISOR Jasmine Jung of Asiana Airlines’s operations in the Philippines supported Teh, as she expressed her belief that the increasing number of Filipinos going to the Korean Peninsula is mainly attributed to the influence of Hallyu, or the Korean wave of culture sweeping the globe through the performing arts.
“[Like many others, such as the Chinese] Filipino tourists think that if they go to Korea, they would be able to see their favorite Korean actors,” Jung enthused.
But to manage expectations, she said the possibility of being able to meet them would be remote.
Even Teh was surprised by the Filipinos’ fascination with the “K-pop” culture, as he witnessed first hand his office staff members being enamored in watching Korean dramas.
Becoming Filipino-like
THE 50-year-old Teh shared that his first job after he graduated from college was with Asiana. And he has continued to serve the company since.
“[That was] in 1995. I started with the in-flight meal unit, then moved to aircraft and supplies purchasing. After that, I was assigned to international and regulatory affairs.”
“My bone, my blood is Asiana,” he said with much pride.
Not only that: he is extremely excited with his new assignment as he anticipates his family to also immigrate in Manila very soon.
“Once I am settled, they will join me here,” he said, obviously missing his wife and two children—a son and a daughter—whom he last saw before he left for the Philippines when they bid him good-bye.
This early, the Asiana executive is ready to reciprocate the Filipinos’ inclination to his country’s seeming conquest of the hearts of his host nation.
“I want to be part of Philippine society, as I work on broadening the network between our two peoples,” Teh declared with a broad grin, which reflected the warmth of the relations between his country and the current one warmly hosting him.
Image credits: Rica Espiritu, Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco