Summary
- Korean Air has temporarily removed the Airbus A380 from flights to JFK, reducing weekly seats by 814 YoY in August and by 2,849 YoY in April and October.
- The airline primarily sends its A380s to JFK and LAX, with two flights to TPE and NRT also appearing on the schedule.
- Korean Air currently has five lively A380s out of ten, with the opportunity of the remaining five inactive A380s returning to service, based on radar data.
Korean Air has adjusted its summer season network, with the airline removing the Airbus A380 from flights to Latest York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) for 2 months this 12 months. Nevertheless, the airline’s aircraft will still operate loads of flights to JFK in 2025, based on data provided by the aviation analytics company Cirium.
Concentrate on LAX
As of January 26, 2024, the airline still had seven weekly one-way flights from Seoul Incheon International Airport (ICN) and JFK in April 2024 and October 2024. Every week later, the carrier removed these flights, meaning that Korean Air’s double-decker aircraft shall be absent from The Big Apple during April and can only operate ten flights in October.
It also reduced flights to JFK with the sort in August 2024. As a substitute of seven weekly frequencies, Korean Air will operate five weekly flights in the course of the month, reducing the weekly seats by 814 12 months-on-12 months (YoY). Meanwhile, in April 2024 and October 2024, the variety of weekly seats shall be reduced by 2,849 YoY. Korean Air added seven weekly flights in January 2025, which implies that it plans to operate more flights with the Airbus A380 initially of next 12 months than in 2024.
Photo: Komenton | Shutterstock
The airline’s full-year capability data showed that Korean Air primarily sends its Airbus A380s to JFK or Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Two one-way flights to Tokyo Narita International Airport (NRT) and Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TPE) also appeared on the carrier’s schedule in February 2024.
It had already operated the flight to TPE, based on Flightradar24 records. The itinerary was operated by an Airbus A380, registered as HL7622. The aircraft operated flight KE185 and the return flight KE186 from/to TPE on February 8. Nevertheless, the flight tracking website’s data didn’t show any flights between ICN and NRT in the approaching days, while Cirium data indicated that Korean Air would operate the flight from ICN to NRT with an A380 on February 18.
![Korean Air Airbus A380](https://static1.simpleflyingimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Korean-Air-Airbus-A380-861-HL7615-(2)-(3).jpg)
The World’s Shortest Airbus A380 Route: Korean Air Adds The Giant To Taipei
It’ll be Taipei’s only A380 service.
Possibly more returning A380s
Currently, Korean Air has five lively Airbus A380 aircraft out of ten, based on ch-aviation data. The remaining five at the moment are marked as stored and never in maintenance. Nevertheless, all five inactive A380s, namely aircraft registered as HL7611, HL7612, HL7613, HL7614, and HL7615, have been lively on the radar, indicating their possible return to lively service.
Photo: Evan El-Amin | Shutterstock
At the identical time, one Airbus A380, registered as HL7261, has been inactive since January 15, 2024. Then, it operated a return flight between ICN and LAX and, upon its return from the Californian airport, has not flown since.
When the airline unveiled its Q4 2023 and full-year results on January 30, 2024, Korean Air’s fleet composition showed that it still owned the ten A380s. In comparison with the tip of 2022, the carrier added 4 aircraft, with the airline taking delivery of eight Airbus A321neo and two Boeing 787-9 aircraft. It retired three Airbus A330, two Boeing 777, and one Boeing 737-800/900 aircraft.
It finished the 12 months with KRW14.5 trillion ($10.8 billion) of revenue, with a net income of KRW916.8 billion ($689 million). Moreover, it plans that passenger demand and capability will fully get better to pre-COVID levels in Q1 2024, with long-haul demand expected to stay robust.
![A Korean Air Airbus A380 taking off over a beach.](https://static1.simpleflyingimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/shutterstock_1753465619-2.jpg)
Korean Air Posts Record High Revenues In 2023
Korean Air has reported revenues ahead of 2019 and is ready for a full recovery of passenger numbers and capability in 1Q 2024.