Korean Air signed an Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) with Boeing at the Paris Air Show for the purchase of five B747-8 Intercontinental and six B777-300ER aircraft.
Ray Conner, president and chief executive officer of Boeing Commercial Airplanes and Walter Cho, executive vice president of Korean Air Corporate Strategy & Planning Division sealing the purchase deal
Korean Air currently has a fleet of 11 B777-300ERs and no B747-8Is. The new purchases are scheduled for delivery from 2016 onwards, although the service routes that the new planes will operate have not been decided yet.
Both B747-8I and B777-300ER are 14 per cent more fuel efficient than the B747-400s, which was crowned the "Queen of the skies" because this aircraft type was once the biggest aircraft in operation. Delivery of the carrier's new B777-300ERs and Intercontinentals will coincide with Korean Air's plans to retire its fleet of 15 B747-400s by 2017.
“Korean Air has steadily built its reputation as an early adopter of new technology and innovation and Boeing airplanes have played an instrumental role in that strategy.” said Ray Conner, president and chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
As reported earlier (see here), Qatar Airways has also ordered nine new B777-300ERs at the same Paris Air Show.
For more information, visit www.koreanair.com and www.boeing.com
Valerian Ho
