Korean Air has announced plans to add 30 Boeing Dreamliners to its fleet, adding to its existing ten B787-9s.
The carrier has made a commitment to purchase ten B787-10 aircraft and a further ten B787-9s. In addition the airline will lease ten B787-10s from Air Lease Corporation.
Walter Cho, chairman of Korean Air said that the Dreamliner “will become the backbone of our long-haul fleet for many years to come”, adding that “the stretched 787-10 offers around 15 percent more space for passengers and cargo than our 787-9s, which will be critical to our long-term business goals”.
Korean Air took delivery of its first Dreamliner in 2017, configured with 245 economy seats, 18 Prestige Plus seats and six Prestige Sleeper seats.
The layout of the forthcoming aircraft has not yet been revealed, but Boeing said that “the 787-10 can serve up to 330 passengers in a standard two-class configuration, about 40 more than Korean Air’s existing fleet of 787-9 airplanes”.
The commitment was announced at this week’s Paris Air Show, and commenting on the news Ihssane Mounir, senior vice president of Commercial Sales and Marketing of The Boeing Company, said:
“Korean Air is a leading global airline and has become one of Asia’s largest transpacific carriers. We are honoured that Korean Air has decided to quadruple its 787 Dreamliner fleet and we will work closely with them to finalise this landmark deal.
“Korean Air continues to build its incredible widebody airplane fleet to enable its philosophy of providing ‘Excellence in Flight’ for its passengers.”