Korean Air to retire A380s in five years, 747-8Is in ten: CEO

Korean Air plans to entirely exit four-engined passenger aircraft within the next ten years. The carrier’s plans for its Airbus A380 and Boeing 747-8I fleets were confirmed by chief executive Walter Cho in an interview with FlightGlobal. “The A380s will be leaving Korean Air’s fleet within five years, and the Boeing 747-8I fleet will also follow suit within ten years,” says Cho. According to Korean’s Q2 results presentation, it has 10 A380s and 10 747-8Is. The presentation also shows that the 747-400 is no longer a part of Korean’s operational fleet. Cirium fleets data suggests that nine of the A380s and eight of the 747-8Is are in storage. The average age of the A380s is 9.3 years, while that of the 747-8Is is 5.2 years. Korean will also inherit six Asiana Airlines A380s when its acquisition of the rival airline is completed, likely in a few years. Korean’s A380s are powered by the Engine Alliance GP7200, while Asiana’s are powered by the Rolls-Royce Trent 900. All six of Asiana’s A380s are in storage. “I believe the Boeing 777 is one of the most successful aircraft in aviation history,” says Cho. “If asked, I would say the B777-300ER is my favourite model. While I haven’t ruled out the Boeing 777X, there are some points that still need verification. I may consider it after that, but I don’t think we’ll have a large demand for new aircraft for some time as we already have a significant number of aircraft in operation or on order.”<br/>