Korean Air and Boeing have just announced a deal for over 100 new aircraft, described as the biggest Boeing wide body order ever from an Asian carrier. Let’s take a look at the details…
Korean Air orders 103 Boeing aircraft, from 737s to 777s
United States President Donald Trump and South Korea President Lee Jae Myung met yesterday, to discuss trade, among other things. As part of this, Korean Air announced plans to order up to 103 Boeing jets, including 20 Boeing 777-9s, 25 Boeing 787-10s, 50 Boeing 737 MAX 10s, and eight Boeing 777-8 Freighters.
This is of course a lot of aircraft we’re talking about, though there are a couple of caveats:
- This isn’t a firm order, but instead, it’s an “intent to purchase” these aircraft; all too often, those are part of some flashy headline, but don’t materialize as planned
- This isn’t an entirely new order, as some of these planes are conversions of existing orders; for example, the 737 MAX 10 order partly consists of conversions of 737 MAX 8 orders
This is Korean Air’s second major Boeing order within the past year or so, as the airline also recently placed a firm order for 20 Boeing 777-9s and 20 Boeing 787-10s. This order is intended for Korean Air to modernize its fleet and support growth, as it fully integrates operations with Asiana over the coming years.
Here’s how Korean Air CEO Walter Cho describes this:
“This agreement with our long-standing partners, Boeing and GE, marks a pivotal moment for Korean Air. Acquiring these next-generation aircraft is the core of our fleet modernization strategy, delivering significant gains in fuel efficiency and enhancing the passenger experience across our global network. This investment is also a critical enabler for our future as a merged airline with Asiana, to ensure that our combined carrier is one of the most competitive airlines in the industry.”
What this order means for Korean Air’s overall fleet plans
Korean Air sure has some major fleet modernization plans, at this point. Let’s talk about each aircraft type that’s part of this order (at least for the passenger fleet).
With this order for 20 Boeing 777-9s, Korean Air’s order for this aircraft is now up to 40 jets. That’s pretty substantial — it makes Korean Air the third largest customer for the aircraft, after Emirates and Qatar Airways. It also sounds like this will eventually become the carrier’s flagship aircraft, replacing Airbus A380s and Boeing 747-8s. However, interestingly, Korean Air also has 27 Airbus A350-1000s on order, which will have fairly similar capabilities.
Korean Air is also increasingly going all-in on the Boeing 787-10, as the airline now has 65 of these planes on order. The jet has great unit costs, and as we’ve seen the aircraft’s range improved over time, its ability to be a reliable and versatile option across the Pacific has also improved.
The Boeing 737 MAX 10 is also a plane with great unit costs. The huge fleet of those aircraft will (eventually) complement 10 Airbus A220-300s, 56 Airbus A321neos, and 18 Boeing 737 MAX 8s. Korean Air is certainly putting a big emphasis on higher capacity narrow body jets.
What stands out to me most is the pure amount of fleet modernization and growth we’re going to see at Korean Air. The legacy Korean Air fleet currently consists of around 130 aircraft, and the legacy Asiana fleet currently consists of around 70 aircraft. The airline group now has roughly 260 planes on order.
When you consider that many existing planes are “latest generation,” the amount of growth that Korean Air is planning is kind of wild.
Bottom line
Korean Air has just announced its intent to purchase 103 Boeing aircraft, including the 777-9, 787-10, and 737 MAX 10. For the 777-9 and 787-10, these represent incremental orders, while this is the first order for the 737 MAX 10 (though the airline already flies 737 MAX 8s).
Korean Air has a huge amount of fleet modernization planned, and I’m curious to see how it all plays out…
What do you make of Korean Air’s latest Boeing aircraft order?
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