Many of us aviation enthusiasts are big fans of the Airbus A380 and Boeing 747, given that these planes are no longer in production, and won’t be in passenger service for that much longer. Korean Air is one of two airlines in the world to operate both of these jets (the other is Lufthansa).
Continue reading: Korean Air A380 & 747-8 Retirement Plans: They’re Sticking Around!
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
They could try and sell a few if not most of the A380's to BA - which seems to be suffering with their current A380 fleet.
Hopefully if they are going to stay in the fleet and used, they had better have plans to upgrade the cabins as it's already showing it's age and very dated with all the latest evolution of seats.
Who was the last airline to update their A380s? Emirates? Has anyone else done any updates in the recent past? A rather neglected airframe 🙁
Just my 2 cents, but if the A380s are sticking around, I would think the KE frames will stay while the OZ frames get retired as it'll be much simpler to operate with one engine type from a maintenance and operation standpoint.
Asiana's 777s and A330s can easily integrate into Korean's fleet as they operate the same engines for their respective types. Just get the cabin new seats from tip-to-tail. They're still perfectly capable especially for low-yield destinations as it really doesn't make sense anymore to deploy them on longer legs with the addition of A350s and 787s. In the same vein, KE can start getting rid of their oldest A330s as well as their 772s and 773s.
Congrats to KE for committing to keeping its A380s, including the six OZ ones. It’s not that common to see an airline other than EK openly supporting its A380 fleet for the next decade or more.
BA is the only airline I can think of that did not retire a single A380 (well, other than ANA), so it’s good to see the only major Northeast Asian operator keep it flying. And the 747-8 being kept around is, as always, a joy. Looking forward to seeing A380s, A350s, 787s and 747s in the post-merger new livery — those old A330s and 777s deserve a well-earned retirement!
Sure wish they would update interiors of the A380. Current business seats are very uncompetitive crossing the pacific.
Anecdotally, KE flew an A380 between ICN and NRT on my last flight with them, it was very bizarre to have a mostly empty plane, even if it is a very busy route, I'm not sure what's the whole point in operating a whole A380 for that 2 hour flight.
"Ironically, Asiana’s A380 business class suite hard product is better than Korean Air’s A380 first class hard product."
And their regular business class on the A380 (staggered seats in 1-2-1 configuration) is also better than what Korean Air offers on their A380 business class (2-2-2 lie flat).
At least Korean Air's 747 uses the Apex seat, so while it's still 2-2-2, at least everyone has aisle access.
I guess we will wait to see what Korean has in store for updating seats on their own planes and on Asiana's planes...if they have any plans, that is.
"I'm not sure what's the whole point in operating a whole A380 for that 2 hour flight."
I'd say crew training.
I wouldn't be surprised if they plan to keep the cabins as is as lead times for new seats from procurement & acquisition until it gets installed on the a/c can be quite long. By the time new seats get installed, their a/c orders will start rolling out of the factory.
I wonder if LH would be interested in picking up the -8is as a stopgap while they wait for A350-1000s and 777-9s. That said it wouldn't surprise me to see them stick around, KAL have a large fleet of -8Fs, and as I understand the crew for the freighter and passenger fleet are the same.
Emirates A380s are looking pretty tired if my flight to Cairo was anything to go by. The BA Super Hi-J 744s and Lufthansa A343s were honestly in better shape despite being twice as old. Honestly EKs three weak points are the airport experience at DXB, their J seats, and their cabin maintenance.
I honestly think the remaining A380 operators bar QR EY and maybe LH and QF will be interested in another VLA by the 2040s or so. Air travel demand is increasing, and airport expansion is getting less and less politically popular.
I would expect something between the 777-9 and 747-8i in size
I keep picking up rumors that Airbus has reconvened a team to study restarting the A380 program with significantly better engines, composite materials, etc. The really huge constraint heading down the pike is airport landing slot and gate capacity. This reaches breaking point in 5-10 years making an A380 type vehicle the only viable solution. Supply chain whispers resulting from feelers out there ...
Well, I think Lufthansa and air China had planned to keep all their 747-8s without retiring it due to the 747-8's fuel efficiency, like the 787, A350, A330neo, A220, A320neo family, 737 max, 777x and the Comac C919. And I was thinking Korean air has 9 passenger 747-8s, but they should not retire them, possibly due to the 747-8's fuel efficiency.