Whereas there’s nothing official but, Bloomberg experiences that Korean Air is nearing a brand new huge physique plane order…
Korean Air could order 20 Airbus A350s
Korean Air is predicted to position an order for 20 Airbus A350s, with an announcement attainable within the coming days. We don’t but know the supply timeline for these jets, or which variant the airline will order (whether or not it’s the smaller -900 or the bigger -1000). Moreover, we don’t know what the break up shall be between agency orders and choices.
Korean Air is within the means of making an attempt to amass Asiana, to create a South Korean mega provider. The corporate hopes that this deal shall be finalized by the top of 2024, because the regulatory approval course of has been rather more drawn out than anticipated. The A350 order shall be positioned as a part of a fleet restructuring plan, supposed to simplify the fleet of the “new” Korean Air. Korean Air doesn’t at present fly A350s, whereas Asiana does.
Korean Air final positioned a large physique plane order in 2019, when the airline ordered 30 extra Boeing 787s.
How the A350 would match into Korean Air’s fleet
Korean Air and Asiana are each type of all over on the subject of their huge physique fleets:
- Asiana flies the A330-200, A330-300, A350-900, A380, 747-400, 767-300, and 777-200ER, and likewise has the A350-1000 on order; the airline is within the means of retiring its final 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 possibly can see, each carriers have fairly the numerous fleet, and a precedence for the merger is to simplify that significantly. Many of those plane kind are being phased out, so I think that the aim would finally be to primarily fly A350s and 787s.
With that in thoughts, I think about this A350 order may primarily act as a alternative for current 777s. Asiana’s 777s are a mean of over 16 years outdated, whereas Korean Air’s 777s are a mean of over 12 years outdated.
Nonetheless, there’s fairly a little bit of distinction in age on the subject of variants in Korean Air’s fleet — 777-200s are a mean of practically 19 years outdated, 777-300s are a mean of practically 25 years outdated, and 777-300ERs are a mean of below 10 years outdated.
Backside line
Korean Air is predicted to position an order for round 20 Airbus A350s, as a part of a post-merger fleet renewal plan. I’m curious to see which variant of the A350 Korean Air selects, and likewise which planes the A350s are supposed to interchange.
Asiana and Korean Air are all over on the subject of their fleets, so I can respect the significance of some simplification.
What do you make of Korean Air’s anticipated Airbus A350 order?
