Korean Air, the nation’s flagship carrier, said Monday that it was considering injecting fresh capital into Czech Airlines, which recently launched restructuring plans to tackle its financial problems.

Korean Air, seeking business expansion in Europe, acquired a 44 percent stake in Czech Airlines last year. Both the carriers are part of the Sky Team global alliance.

“We are considering fresh funding for Czech Airlines,” said a Korean Air spokesperson. “But we have not yet finalized the size or the timing.”

The funding would be part of the plans that Korean Air announced in September, saying that it has agreed to inject a maximum $20 million into Czech Airlines on the carrier’s requests.

But the actual figure may be lower than $20 million, according to industry sources, as Czech Airlines’ performance has recently been improving.

After its flights to Europe from Russia were hit by the weakening Russian economy, coupled with travel bans slapped on the region, the Czech flag carrier decided to fire one-third of its 900 employees and sell off six A320 aircraft.

Right after such restructuring plans were revealed last month, Korean Air’s stock prices suffered for days due to concerns about sluggish sales in Europe. The prices have since recovered to their normal levels.

“The improved financial soundness of Czech Airlines will affect Korean Air’s Europe business positively in the longer term,” said Kim Min-ji, an analyst at Etrade Securities.

Currently, the state-run Czech Aeroholding, with a 53.74 percent stake, is the airline’s largest shareholder. But if it succeeds in selling off a 34 percent stake to the Prague-based airline Travel Service in the coming weeks, Korean Air is expected to become the largest shareholder.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)