Korean Air is on quite the wide body aircraft shopping spree. The airline recently placed an order for 33 Airbus A350s, and has now placed an order for two of Boeing’s wide body aircraft variants…
Continue reading: Wow: Korean Air Orders Boeing 777Xs, More 787s
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Glad to see this long awaited fleet rationalisation.
This should easily save hundreds of millions of dollars a year in costs for the combined carrier.
Hopefully Korean Air will also retire its A330s as well. Asiana will start to phase out its A330s from this year. Their A330s are pretty outdated in terms of both airframe age and cabin product.
Korean Air CEO once described 787s as their "future", and with them having both -9 and -10 variants, 787s will indeed play a major role in their fleet modernisation.
Ordering 20 777Xs seems a bit too much, given that they also purchased 28 A35Ks too.
This order was bound to come esp. after the A350 order. S. Korea is simply too important of a partner to the US not to include a large order for Boeing.
Ben is right that the 777-9 will become the flagship of the KE fleet while the A350s will have greater range.
ICN will become a heavy metal haven with the approval of the KE-OZ merger which will happen later this year - good thing the president isn't involved - which will lead to significant DL growth at ICN; in order for KE to integrate OZ' operation, DL will have to grow its own presence. The A350-1000s which DL will begin receiving in 2026 will be heavily used at ICN.
S. Korea is well on its way to becoming the largest hub in Asia and displacing Japan in the historic role of connecting the Americas with E. Asia.
"...in order for KE to integrate OZ' operation, DL will have to grow its own presence."
Delta! Drink! 🙂
Korea Air is taking big risk by ordering Boeing as these planes are not really by the time specified. It should look more into Airbus aircrafts which are already certified.
Delta and Korean recognize that ICN will become what Tokyo never can be because of Japanese government policies which have rendered Narita economically unviable for high cost airlines like American, United, JAL and ANA while HND does not have the space to integrate operations throughout Asia and the Americas as ICN can.
Korean has patiently waited for the US to approve the merger with Asiana which will provide the platform for further DL-KE growth.
The term "ultra long haul" is really over-used here.
Boeing defined it (originally internally as the "C-market") as flights 16hrs or greater, and incorporated it into their design philosophy accordingly. Airbus, as flights "in excess of 15hrs."
Korean doesn't have a flight that comes anywhere near the above. IINM, their longest route is ICN-ATL, which a 747 from the '80s could easily do.
There are 37 A330s between KE and OZ, which one could deduce would be replaced with the 787-10s (and maybe some of the -9s) as they arrive?
Ordering 20 777Xs seems a bit too much, given that they also purchased 28 A35Ks too.
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Not really sure how you're drawing that conclusion, considering that the 20 B77Xs are meant to replace a combined 17 A380+B748i, while the 27 A35Ks are meant to replace 25 B77Ws.
That's more or less perfect fleet strategy, factoring in a few additional examples of each for growth.
The wildcard are the 787s, as while some will replace the (ancient) A330s on regional flights, KE still hasn't outlined which will be used for further longhaul growth.
Grandma,
It's the WORST when he and I keep failing the "Prove you're not a robot" tests on websites.
and KE could very well use its A350s to open routes that they cannot fly - not unlike what QF will do
Well when you write thousands of comments about Delta you're bound to rack up a few likes here and there. It's about the absolute number, not the percentage.
You throw 1000 pieces of stuff at a wall, a few pieces might stick. You’re trending towards rock bottom. Loser.
The regulatory approval process taking longer than expected? No that is core of this administration when it comes to businesses wanting to buy other companies. Delay and delay the process more. Sue successful companies because their products are superior.
@Tim Dunn. Curious. QF's SYD/MEL bases are uniquely ultra long-haul. Plus BNE is on the same trajectory. What are the same ultra long-haul opportunities from ICN? The geography is hugely different. JNB/CPT? GIG/GRU/EZE? Would those be commercially viable? What's the connectivity or O/D volume? I think you're reaching...
and KE could very well use its A350s to open routes that they cannot fly
Like where?
The only region KE cannot reach with its current fleet is South America; but even the "Sunrise" edition A35Ks wouldn't grant it the range for the likes of ICN - GRU/GIG/EZE.
It could get to Lima, but gonna surmise that a low-yield cargo-heavy market that's never sustained transpacific traffic, might not be the *best* place to try an 18hr+ flight........
It's interesting they went for 787 instead of 330neo to replace the 777 and the 330ceo. The 3330neo is clearly being marketed as regional carrier but that seems having trouble getting any traction.
I assume the higher payload, cargo capacity and passenger capacity for better fuel efficiency play a role in this ?