On April 23, 2021, Korean Air successfully completed the delivery of 110 works of artist Pablo Picasso from Paris to Seoul. The fragile mission transported 22 tons of oil paintings, sculptures and ceramics worth trillions of won.
On Friday (April 30, 2021), Korean Air announced the successful transport from Paris to Seoul of over 22 tons of artwork by Pablo Picasso, including oil paintings, sculptures and ceramics worth trillions of won. The fragile mission took place over four flights from April 16th through April 23, 2021. Korean Air Cargo handled the masterpieces of Picasso, one of the greatest artists of the 20th century, with the utmost care. The packaging of the art took place under strict supervision and ground transport was minimized as mush as possible. The entire operation was closely monitored using the latest cloud-based enterprise collaboration system, providing real-time information between airports.
The artwork, which is owned by the National Picasso Museum in Paris, will be displayed as a special exhibition called “Pablo Picasso Retrospective” at the Seoul Arts Center from May 1st through August 29, 2021. The event celebrates the 140th anniversary of Pablo Picasso’s birth. Korean Air has extensive experience in transporting special cargo such as masterpieces from the Louvre, the Musee d’Orsay and the National Gallery in London. In 1971, the carrier opened a new era for their cargo business by introducing trans-Pacific cargo flights to the U.S. Korean Air Cargo is also certified by IATA’s Center of Excellence for Independent Validators on Pharmaceutical Handling (CEIV Pharma).
In a separate press release on Thursday (April 29, 2021), Korean Air Lines announced the expansion of their Baggage Notification Service to all routes starting May 1st, 2021. Customers will receive a message on Korean Air’s new mobile My Korean Air app such as “Your baggage KE123456 has been loaded on flight KE1211 bound for Jeju (CJU)” as soon as their bag has been successfully loaded onboard. The service is based on the Baggage Reconciliation System (BRS) developed by Korean Air. The system involves the scanning and verification of baggage barcode information created during check-in, ensuring all baggage is loaded on the correct flight. Korean Air Lines originally launched the service at Seoul-Incheon for international flights in June 2020, and has now expanded the program for all international and domestic flights.
Source: Korean Air