South Korea’s flag carrier Korean Air said Tuesday it has closed its regional headquarters in Europe and Southeast Asia in an effort to “streamline” business operations as the coronavirus pandemic continues.

A company official said the move was made to respond to the “changing business environment more quickly and effectively.”

The work that had been undertaken by the regional headquarters will be handled by other regional branches.

“We will create a global sales support group and 24-hour passenger transportation support center in the headquarters (in Korea) to speed up the decision making process between the headquarters and overseas branches,” the official said.

Korean Air previously had its European and Southeast Asian headquarters in Paris and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The airline now has three regional headquarters in Los Angeles, Beijing and Tokyo.

By Yim Hyun-su (hyunsu@heraldcorp.com)