Korean Air has today (October 21) outlined further details of its A380 order, with the first superjumbo due for delivery in May next year.
The delivery may have been pushed back from the original December 2010 date (see online news April 9), but that hasn’t stopped Korean from releasing production details to whet our appetites.
Roll-out
Ten 400- and 450-seat A380s are currently on the production line, with the first four to be delivered entering the final stages of assembly at Airbus’ Toulouse facility.
The first A380 will be completed and delivered in May, with the second, third and fourth following suit in June, July and August respectively.
The fifth is expected by the end of next year, with the remaining five entering service sometime between 2012 and 2014.
There are currently no orders for more A380s beyond 2014.
Seating
The ten A380s will come in either a 400- or 450-seat configuration, which Korean admits is fewer seats than on the A380s operated by other airlines such as Lufthansa and Qantas (click here to see how the various A380s compare).
But Korean said its layout would “maximize cabin space”, opting instead for a more spacious passenger experience.
Business class seating will come in the form of Korean’s Prestige Sleeper flat beds, while the first class cabin will be fitted with the Kosmo Suites. These can already be found on Korean’s new B777-300ERs, for more details and images click here.
All seats, including those in economy, will have AVOD in-flight entertainment.
Routes
Korean confirmed that from August next year, it would use the A380 to serve the US and Europe out of Asia. But before then, the superjumbo will serve short-haul routes to major cities in Japan and East Asia “to allow more passengers to experience the next generation aircraft”.
Korean said the introduction of the A380 would also increase passenger traffic from China, Japan, and East Asia transferring to the US and Europe and drive growth at Incheon International Airport as a global hub.
For more information visit koreanair.com.
Report by Andrew Gough
