Wednesday, 2 April 2025
Airlines

Korean Air to retire its A380s, B747s within a decade

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While Korean Air has continued to operate its superjumbo Airbus A380s and Boeing 747s, the airline is making plans to retire the four-engine jets from their fleet within a decade.

 In a report from FlightGlobal, Korean Air CEO Cho Won-tae confirmed to the aviation industry news site that the Seoul-based airline will retire its A380 and 747-8 within the decade. According to Cho, the A380s will be retired within the next 5 years, while the 747s will follow within 10 years.

According to Korean Air’s second quarter results, the airline currently has 10 A380s and 10 747-8Is – all of which are currently parked due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The airline also revealed the Boeing 747-400s are no longer part of the airline’s operational fleet. With its anticipated merger with Asiana , it is expected to inherit 6 A380s when it completes the integration of its main South Korean-based rival by the year 2024.

Like many airlines globally, the airline will rely more on its twin-engine widebody Boeing jets to serve its long-haul and high capacity network. Korean Air currently has 26 777-300ER, 10 787-9s, and 20 787-10s. The airline has another 10 787-9s on order.

As for future orders for aircraft such as the Boeing 777-9 (777X), Cho was quoted in the report saying: “While I haven’t ruled out the Boeing 777X, there are some points that still need verification. I may consider it after that, but I don’t think we’ll have a large demand for new aircraft for some time as we already have a significant number of aircraft in operation or on order.”

With the plans, Korean Air – South Korea’s largest airline – will join other global airlines in retiring and phasing out their A380 and 747 jets.

Written by
Jeffrey Teruel

Jeffrey is the founder and editor of Flights in Asia. Dedicated to sharing the latest news, updates, and firsthand experiences in the dynamic aviation and travel landscape of the Asia-Pacific region.

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