Korean Air has just placed a massive wide body aircraft order, and I can’t wait to see these jets in the skies.
In this post:
Korean Air orders Airbus A350-900 & A350-1000
Korean Air has just placed an order for 33 Airbus A350s. This includes 27 of the larger A350-1000 variant, and six of the smaller A350-900 variant. The deal is valued at $13.7 billion based on list prices, though airlines never pay list prices for new aircraft. The timeline for these planes being delivered hasn’t yet been announced.
Korean Air is in the process of trying to acquire Asiana, to create a South Korean mega carrier. The company hopes that this deal will be finalized by the end of 2024, as the regulatory approval process has been much more drawn out than expected. The A350 order is being placed as part of a fleet restructuring plan, intended to simplify the fleet of the “new” Korean Air, while also flying a more sustainable fleet. Korean Air doesn’t currently fly A350s, while Asiana does.
Korean Air last placed a wide body aircraft order in 2019, when the airline ordered 30 additional Boeing 787s.
I have to imagine that the A350-1000 is intended to be Korean Air’s new flagship long haul aircraft, given the plane’s capacity, range, and economics. This is simply an unbeatable aircraft, and I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of a product Korean Air introduces on it. The airline is expected to introduce a new business class soon, and I imagine that will also be offered on A350s.
How the A350 fits into Korean Air’s fleet
Korean Air and Asiana are both kind of all over the place when it comes to their wide body fleets:
- Asiana flies the A330-200, A330-300, A350-900, A380, 747-400, 767-300, and 777-200ER, and also has the A350-1000 on order; the airline is in the process of retiring its last A330-200s, 747-400s, and 767-300s
- Korean Air flies the A330-200, A330-300, A380, 747-8, 777-200, 777-300, 777-300ER, and 787-9, and has the 787-10 on order
As you can see, both carriers have quite the varied fleet, and a priority for the merger is to simplify that considerably. Many of these aircraft type are being phased out, so I suspect that the goal would eventually be to primarily fly A350s and 787s.
With that in mind, I imagine this A350 order is primarily intended as a replacement for existing 777s. Asiana’s 777s are an average of over 16 years old, while Korean Air’s 777s are an average of over 12 years old.
However, there’s quite a bit of difference in age when it comes to variants in Korean Air’s fleet — 777-200s are an average of nearly 19 years old, 777-300s are an average of nearly 25 years old, and 777-300ERs are an average of under 10 years old. So that perhaps isn’t a direct replacement, since the 777-300 isn’t the longest range plane in Korean Air’s fleet.
Bottom line
Korean Air has placed an order for 33 Airbus A350s, as part of a post-merger fleet renewal plan. The airline primarily selected the larger A350-1000 variant, but is also picking up some A350-900s.
Asiana and Korean Air are all over the place when it comes to their fleets, so I can appreciate the importance of some simplification. In the long run, the combined airline will likely primarily fly Airbus A350s and Boeing 787s on long haul flights.
What do you make of Korean Air’s Airbus A350 order?
Korean Air is apparently considering about ordering up to 30 Boeing planes, possibly including 777Xs, soon. I believe this is to get the merger approval from the US.
Just out of curiocity, Can KOREAN AIR access and keep the maintenance of Rolls-Roys Trent XWB engines ? Or Rolls still have the exclusive engine maintenance access right?
They have not said if that was part of the deal but KE did say they were asking for it.
Given that Delta owns a stake in them and has had MRO rights on the Trent XWB 84 engines that power the A350-900 and said they got it for the XWB 97s that power the -1000, I strongly suspect that Airbus had a chat with Rolls Royce and told them they needed to rethink how they do business.
Air France also got MRO rights as part of their big order.
It is not coincedent that announcement of the biggest MRO facility in Asia and purchasing agreement with AIRBUS A350-900 and -1000 within seven days apart.
Korean Air has begun construction for a new engine MRO facility near Seoul’s Incheon airport, with operations expected to commence in 2027. The 140,000sq m (1,507,000sq ft) facility, which Korean Air says is the largest engine maintenance plant in Asia, will see the consolidation of all engine MRO capabilities...
It is not coincedent that announcement of the biggest MRO facility in Asia and purchasing agreement with AIRBUS A350-900 and -1000 within seven days apart.
Korean Air has begun construction for a new engine MRO facility near Seoul’s Incheon airport, with operations expected to commence in 2027. The 140,000sq m (1,507,000sq ft) facility, which Korean Air says is the largest engine maintenance plant in Asia, will see the consolidation of all engine MRO capabilities into a single cluster.
Everything is clearer now. Once again, thanks a million !
Wow. I always thought Korean air would never order any plane with RR engines. I wonder what routes these planes will fly. I hope I can see the 1000 variant on the LAX route once the A380's are gone or at least get the 747-8 permanent on the LAX route for one of the two daily flights. HNL lost the 747 they should put one on the LAX route
Airbus simply built an outstanding aircraft in the A350 and there might have been a choice between the 787-9 and A350-900 but there is no choice with the A350-1000.
The A350-1000 at best would be matched in range by the 777-8 and no airline is going to wait not just for the 777-9 but also the 777-8 given all the problems at Boeing.
You buy Airbus widebodies, you get Rolls-Royce engines right now. Maybe...
Airbus simply built an outstanding aircraft in the A350 and there might have been a choice between the 787-9 and A350-900 but there is no choice with the A350-1000.
The A350-1000 at best would be matched in range by the 777-8 and no airline is going to wait not just for the 777-9 but also the 777-8 given all the problems at Boeing.
You buy Airbus widebodies, you get Rolls-Royce engines right now. Maybe after 2030, GE will convince Airbus to consider GE engines as an option but there are years for Airbus to build A350 sales and for Rolls-Royce to benefit
Huge win this decade for Airbus APAC team, they ascertain loyalty from China, South Korea and Japan together within 2 years.
The message can't be lost in Korean's statement that the Airbus order supports the integration w/ Asiana - which has been approved by the EU but not the US.
I mean, having A350s, 787s or both as the flagship seems to be most airlines’ endgame right?
Meanwhile, 777x is still vaporware.
What are the odds Boeing decides to completely terminate the 777x program? Very slim, but with their incompetent executive suite it definitely greater than zero.
the order book for 777X is larger than a35k - even if it is largely driven by demand from a single airline. There's enough slot constrained airports and bilaterals that an airplane larger than the a35k still makes sense, especially with a healthy number of 77ws still needing replacement
A lil error. Asiana doesn’t and has never operated A330-200s. Only KE has. Keep it up:)
"I have to imagine that the A350-1000 is intended to be Korean Air’s new flagship long haul aircraft, given the plane’s capacity, range, and economics. This is simply an unbeatable aircraft"
And the A350-1000 has been available for well over a decade, has been tweaked by Airbus to be even more unbeatable, and only one US airline has ordered it (and yep, you know which one) - and it will only serve AUS if it...
"I have to imagine that the A350-1000 is intended to be Korean Air’s new flagship long haul aircraft, given the plane’s capacity, range, and economics. This is simply an unbeatable aircraft"
And the A350-1000 has been available for well over a decade, has been tweaked by Airbus to be even more unbeatable, and only one US airline has ordered it (and yep, you know which one) - and it will only serve AUS if it flies to ICN for either KE or DL - or perhaps LHR on one of the two British airline, one of which, wait, wait, is also a DL partner.
@ Tim Dunn -- You took the words right out of my mouth!!! #KeepClimbing
well, actually, AUS and premium was your idea, Ben.
thanks for the reader engagement and for highlighting how great of an airplane the A350-1000 is.
You do best (and that is most of the time) when you leave in the corner the 5 year olds that aren't even smart enough to come up w/ their own user name but rather mock others.
To not think that there will be a lot of very cost...
well, actually, AUS and premium was your idea, Ben.
thanks for the reader engagement and for highlighting how great of an airplane the A350-1000 is.
You do best (and that is most of the time) when you leave in the corner the 5 year olds that aren't even smart enough to come up w/ their own user name but rather mock others.
To not think that there will be a lot of very cost efficient growth between ICN and the US by DL and KE would be an obvious miss.
and UA can use its 777s with their propensity to lose parts and leak fluids and still grow its ICN presence.
Oh, I have my own user name. I just use this to point out that you kiss Ben’s @$$ until you don’t, and then you whinge.
of course you use multiple user names - which we all knew all along.
You mock others because you aren't capable of contributing anything meaningful to the conversation and can't stand that someone else can.
My tactics are unchanged in 20 plus years on social media.
Ben does a great job- I wouldn't come here if he didn't.
Stooping to the level of children like you does nothing for him or his site and more and more users are speaking up that YOU are the problem.
You are such a duplicitous whinger.
Your “tactics” - spew nonsense and kiss up to Delta.
You offer what? You cut and post responses across multiple blogs. You are such a narcissistic, unemployed loser.
You prove your obsession with me and that you apparently have nothing better to do than stalk me across multiple sites so you can run here since most other sites have put a lid on the behavior which you still manage to get by with here.
stick to one user name. You lie to yourself and everyone else - and you are the only one that can't see it.
And you fail to accomplish what...
You prove your obsession with me and that you apparently have nothing better to do than stalk me across multiple sites so you can run here since most other sites have put a lid on the behavior which you still manage to get by with here.
stick to one user name. You lie to yourself and everyone else - and you are the only one that can't see it.
And you fail to accomplish what you want which is to eliminate a voice that you can't stand to hear/read because they are right.
You bet on the wrong horse. Suck it up and move on.
Huh? There are half a dozen fake Tim Dumb logins. I’m just one. You are despised.
I have absolutely no doubt that there are multiple people like you and that you will never like me.
All of you are bound by the same thing:
1. You can't stand to hear that Delta is doing anything well, let alone better than your favorite airline.
2. You can't stand to hear any criticism of your favorite airline.
3. You can't stand anyone that knows more about the industry than you...
I have absolutely no doubt that there are multiple people like you and that you will never like me.
All of you are bound by the same thing:
1. You can't stand to hear that Delta is doing anything well, let alone better than your favorite airline.
2. You can't stand to hear any criticism of your favorite airline.
3. You can't stand anyone that knows more about the industry than you do and is able to cut through the bias and get to the irrefutable facts.
Almost all of you are American and United employees or former employees.
Your identity is wrapped up in your current or former employer despite the fact that you make that accusation about me.
You and others are hellbent on eliminating any voice that embraces the 3 items above. You want to engage blog and site operators like Ben in the process and yet the simple fact is that in more than 20 years of my participation in aviation social media, you have not only failed at silencing me but you have caused me to speak more often and louder.
The adults in the room can figure it out but you can't.
Delta is not perfect despite what some say, but it runs a better business and a better operation, and its people are better off.
Delta has simply outsmarted its competitors over and over again.
You bet on the wrong horse. Accept it, move on, and find something else to do with your life that you will succeed at.
I am going nowhere and not changing my message.
But he kisses Delta's @$$ even more lol
Can someone explain to my stupid ass why Korean Air would need approval from Japan, the EU, the US, etc to have a merger with Asiana? I thought that their own country or IATA or something like that would be the one handling that.
because the merger will heavily if not completely (depending on the market) consolidate air service into one carrier on the Korean side
Countries have the right to control transborder mergers, just as is playing out with a Japanese and US steel maker.
Because where do you think they'll be flying those aircraft....
Just because Korea allows them to merge, doesn't mean other countries they serve won't react to what they feel could be market distorting.
Doesn't mean that those countries would react at all; but the smart thing would be for aspiring partners to seek their approval before consolidating, rather than FAAFO.
Boeing is truly getting battered. I wonder how the shareholders are feeling now?
Korean is a very smart airline. They are following their partners such as Delta in ordering great aircraft. All of Delta’s partner airlines are smart because they partner with Delta. Meanwhile look at all the trash airlines that partner with American and United.
Big day for Airbus as JAL has also just ordered 20 A350-900 for long haul service as Well as some B789 + A321 neo to replace the B767.
It's kinda funny that both JAL and KAL placed a huge Airbus plane order on '21st March'.
Mergers are bad for consumers. I don’t care if it’s the US, Korea, or Mars. It would be kind of funny if they go forward with this order and then the merger collapses a la JetBlue and Spirit.
Long since contended that EU and US should partially condition their approval on S.Korea no longer obstructing longhaul international flight operation from Pusan (Busan).
I doubt it'd ever come to anything more than a few flights to Frankfurt (Lufthansa's tried multiple times for this) and perhaps LAX and Helsinki. But still.
There are already some slots for flights to Busan given to airlines at the moment. LOT have confirmed a direct flights from Warsaw to Busan too. With the opening of new airport in 2030, I guess Emirates could also launch flights... they've been keep showing their interests with that.
To be clear, it's pretty much of impossible for a long-haul flights to Busan launched for now.
It's either wait until the tension btwn....
There are already some slots for flights to Busan given to airlines at the moment. LOT have confirmed a direct flights from Warsaw to Busan too. With the opening of new airport in 2030, I guess Emirates could also launch flights... they've been keep showing their interests with that.
To be clear, it's pretty much of impossible for a long-haul flights to Busan launched for now.
It's either wait until the tension btwn. Russia and the West becomes loose (so the Russian aerospace is open once again) or the new airport to open, since the current Gimhae Airport (PUS) 's runway is not capable for long-haul plane with full payload to take-off (though a plane who's as big as A380 can still take-off and land).
Will these planes have a first class?
The Asiana-Korean merger approvals are moving very slow but they are moving forward and KE has to start thinking about the future of the merged airline. OZ is a financial basket case and its situation has only gotten worse.
KE has lots of reason to order the A350 because it is a great plane but also because getting rid of the OZ A350 fleet would just require replacing those aircraft with something else. And the...
The Asiana-Korean merger approvals are moving very slow but they are moving forward and KE has to start thinking about the future of the merged airline. OZ is a financial basket case and its situation has only gotten worse.
KE has lots of reason to order the A350 because it is a great plane but also because getting rid of the OZ A350 fleet would just require replacing those aircraft with something else. And the A350 is flying now and Airbus is starting deliveries of some recent orders in 2 years or less meaning they have delivery slots available for new orders.
and, yes, DL is a part owner of Korean, is an A350 operator and will have a fleet of over 5 dozen A350s as the A350-1000s come onboard and the A350 is ideally suited for the east coast to ICN routes given Russia overflight restrictions. DL is also clearly telling KE to get maintenance overhaul rights on the Rolls Royce engines powering KE and OZ's fleet because KE says they are seeking them. KE, like DL, overhauls many of its own engines.
And KE is likely to also order the 777X because of politics. S. Korea is a huge US ally and flies alot of big metal; the 777X and A350 can coexist at KE just as a number of other global carriers plan to do.
I'd like to know if there's going to be any effort into trying to simplify the products being offered during this merger- both airlines have VERY different J and F products for their widebodies.
There are a handful of airlines that operate all of the A320, 737, A330, 787, A350 and 777: Turkish Airlines, Qatar Airways and the big three Chinese airlines. (QR has the A380 and 747 as well!) EgyptAir and Korean Air operate all of these single-decker families except the A350, and even the A220 (or did, in the case of EgyptAir, as it has thrown out its A350s).
So it was no surprise that since MS...
There are a handful of airlines that operate all of the A320, 737, A330, 787, A350 and 777: Turkish Airlines, Qatar Airways and the big three Chinese airlines. (QR has the A380 and 747 as well!) EgyptAir and Korean Air operate all of these single-decker families except the A350, and even the A220 (or did, in the case of EgyptAir, as it has thrown out its A350s).
So it was no surprise that since MS ordered the A350 last November, KE will do the same now. These airlines don’t believe in fleet simplicity at all, in stark contrast to EK.
As an added bonus, KE also has the A380 and even the passenger 747, which QR does not — so KE will be the world’s only airline with all twinjets, quadjets and A220s!
Sorry, meant to say that MS retired its A220s — it doesn’t have A350s yet.
It seems like KAL is having some trouble with Boeing since a while ago, so that might be reason. Their subsidiary Jin Air with all-Boeing fleet is also considering switching to Airbus-centred fleet. KAL plans to retire all A380s by 2025 and 747s by 2031 (I believe that they'll retire 3-4 747s this year)... but they've really gotta dump out A330s, 737 Next Gens and first-gen 777s ASAP.
Or that KAL-Asiana merger is almost...
It seems like KAL is having some trouble with Boeing since a while ago, so that might be reason. Their subsidiary Jin Air with all-Boeing fleet is also considering switching to Airbus-centred fleet. KAL plans to retire all A380s by 2025 and 747s by 2031 (I believe that they'll retire 3-4 747s this year)... but they've really gotta dump out A330s, 737 Next Gens and first-gen 777s ASAP.
Or that KAL-Asiana merger is almost success and complete by now, so they're considering their fleet development with assumption that the merger will success. Only the US haven't approved yet - it was quite surprising that Japan approved it without any restrictions...
Some of their A330-200s will be leased to T’way Air to fly from Seoul to Europe as one of the conditions of the merger
T‘way is getting 3 A350s from Asiana.
Bottom line is that Delta is smart as proven by this order of A350s.
People complain about that guy overshadowing the threads, but then they spam every single post here lately, with stuff like this.
@ImmortalSynn very true.
Nailed it. It truly is approaching spam levels.
The imitators are becoming more obnoxious than the original ever was.
Just leave him be, and he won't go on 20-response rants.
thank goodness that there are adults in the room.
The blog writer here is not one of them.
anyone that doubts the maturity of Ben need only read this:
He was also of course brilliant for sneaking onto a Delta flight; who wouldn’t want to fly with the airline that gets a revenue premium for its excellence, and which has Airbus A350-1000s on order
Grow up, Ben.
We realize you are desperate to generate ad revenue but ACT like the adult in the room even if it is not who you really are.
“ Grow up, Ben.
We realize you are desperate to generate ad revenue but ACT like the adult in the room even if it is not who you really are.”
Go away Tim. You love taking credit for people reading this and VFTW. Which is it?
He tells Ben to grow up, all while posting multiple posts and even as usual, works Delta into a post for...reasons? And he wonders why people snark on him. I hope Delta is paying him well for this.
hit dog will holler
"The imitators are becoming more obnoxious than the original ever was."
Impossible.
How unique!