Fifty flight crew were ready to walk off the job at midnight

A deal was struck just two hours before the pilots' union set a deadline for pilots to stage a walk-out.

The agreement comes a week after a 25-day strike at rival Asiana Airlines was forcibly halted by the government.

South Korea's government used special powers designed to safeguard industries it considers critical to the economy.

"The pilots will not take strike action," said Korean Air spokeswoman Nancy Park.

Longer stopovers

The airline has partially agreed to the pilots' demands that minimum rest times following overseas flights be stretched to 30 hours from the current 22.

However, this only covers flights to the Americas and South East Asia, not to European destinations.

Pilots who were union members at Korean Air took part in low-level protests over the summer, including taxiing at slower speeds on runways.

Korean Air has a total of 1,870 pilots, with 1,291 allied to the union.