News

Korean Air deploys A380 on Seoul-Paris route

7 Apr 2014 by Clement Huang

Korean Air has upgraded the capacity of its service between Seoul Incheon and Paris Charles de Gaulle from a Boeing 777-300ER to an A380.

The superjumbo is configured with a three-class configuration, and features 12 suites in first class (Kosmo), 94 in business (Prestige), and 301 in economy. While the carrier does boast the lowest seat number for its superjumbo when compared to any other A380 operator, this does still represent an end-to-end cabin upgrade of the seating capacity seen in the B777-300ER. Overall, weekly capacity for the route has been increased by 40 per cent.

Lower seat density on the A380 may offer better comfort for passengers, but it also means higher fuel cost per seat. Therefore, such a move might be a show of confidence by Korean Air in which it does believe that the A380 service between Seoul and Paris would be capable of maintaining a continuously high passenger load.

Prior to the change, the B777-300ER was configured with the same three-class setting, but only featured eight suites in first class, 21 seats in business, and 227 in economy.

According to Korean Air, the increase in capacity is a direct response to the increasing demand for the Seoul–Paris route.

"The main reason [for the capacity increase] is to improve the competitiveness of Korean Airs service and schedule on the route with the increased demand [for travel] between Korea and France," said a Korean Air spokesperson. 

Due to the high passenger traffic seen in London-Heathrow, Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport represents an attractive alternate gateway into the UK due to its close proximity of the English capital, along with the excellent connectivity between the two destinations, either by regional flights or rail service.

In addition, the Air Passenger Duty (APD) tax makes traveling from the UK significantly more costly. As the distance between London and Seoul is approximately 5,500 miles, the APD applicable is £83 (US$137) for passengers in economy, and £166 (US$275) for any other class of travel. Meanwhile, a single journey rail ticket on the Eurostar between London and Paris starts as low as £62 (US$102). 

It is also worth mentioning that the A380 upgrade is Korean Air’s first in Europe. The flag carrier of Korea currently operates the superjumbo to Hong Kong in Asia, as well as New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta in the US.

Flight KE901 departs Seoul/Incheon at 1305 daily and arrives in Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport at 1820. The return leg sees flight KE902 leaving Paris at 2100 and touching back down in Seoul at 1450 the following day.

Korean Air currently operates a fleet of eight A380, and expects to take delivery of a further two superjumbos by the end of the year.

For more information, visit www.koreanair.com

Clement Huang

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