Korean Air To Buy 33 Airbus A350s

In a bid to retire the ageing aircraft and replace them with new and more efficient ones, Korean Air has confirmed that it will sign a contract with Airbus to purchase 33 A350 family jets. The split is 27 A330-1000s and 6 A350-900s. The whole deal is valued at USD 13.7 billion.

The new aircraft will also help as Korean Air completes the merger with Asiana Airlines. The A350-1000, the largest in the family, can seat between 350 and 410 passengers in a typical three-class configuration and cover up to 16,000km nonstop at full capacity. On the other hand, the A350-900 is about 7 metres shorter but still has space for 300-350 passengers in a three-class layout and can fly up to 15,370km nonstop.

The airline’s fleet modernisation stint will also include the introduction of 50 Airbus A321neos, 10 Boeing 787-9s, 20 Boeing 787-10s and 30 Boeing 737-8s. Earlier this week, Korea's flag carrier also shared details about a busy summer season ahead.