Korean Air to go digital with help from Kakao

Korean Air and Kakao will work together on a range of projects, including digitization of the airline and in-flight entertainment.

Korean Air signed a memorandum of understanding with Kakao on Thursday with the goal of offering more convenient services via mobile, the airline announced in a statement.

Woo Kee-hong, president of Korean Air, and Ha Eun-yong, executive vice president of Korean Air, joined Kakao CEO Yeo Min-soo and Kakao Vice President Bae Jae-hyun in signing the agreement at Kakao’s office in Pangyo, Gyeonggi, on Thursday.

The agreement reflects Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Won-tae’s ambition to increase synergy by bringing together the airline industry and the information technology business.

Kakao operates a range of digital services including instant messaging app KakaoTalk and webtoon platform Daum Webtoon.

The two companies plan to collaborate on offering convenient ways for consumers to find flight tickets and digitalizing the entire travel journey, from purchasing tickets to boarding the plane, in a more convenient method. Kakao will also contribute to in-flight entertainment.

Away from customer-facing projects, Kakao also believes its artificial intelligence technology can help raise the productivity of the airline.

“Based on the collaboration with Kakao, Korean Air plans to improve the customer [experience] by applying Kakao’s excellent platform and content to fields like Korean Air’s customer service, flight ticket sales and fintech,” said Woo in a statement.

BY JIN MIN-JI [jin.minji@joongang.co.kr]