Korean Air’s A380 aircraft

By Lee Hyo-sik

Korean Air has introduced a total of five Airbus A380 aircraft, dubbed ``hotel in the sky,’’ to its fleet this year carrying, over 400,000 passengers on five international routes.

The country’s largest flagship carrier put its first A380 airplane in service on June 17, carrying travelers to Narita International Airport from Incheon International Airport. After returning from Japan, the plane flew to Hong Kong later in the day. Korean Air was the world’s sixth airline to begin operating A380s and the first among airlines based in Northeast Asia.

With the airline bringing in four more A380 airplanes from July through November, it has been operating them on its mid- and long-haul routes linking Incheon and cities in North America and Europe, such as New York, Los Angeles and Paris. Airbus will deliver five more jets to Korean Air by 2014.

By route, a total of 141,770 passengers traveled onboard the A380 between Incheon and Narita airports over the past six months, while 120,090 travelers flew the Incheon-Hong Kong route. Smaller numbers of passengers traveled on routes between Incheon, and New York, Los Angeles and Paris as the aircraft were only put into operation in October.

Korean Air projected that over 3 million travelers annually will get firsthand experience on what it is like to fly with its A380 aircraft from 2015.

``By operating A380 aircraft next year, the company will be able to further reinforce its reputation as one of the world’s leading premium passenger flight service providers,’’ a Korean Air spokesman said. ``Many of our customers have changed their flight schedules to fly on our A380 airplanes. We are changing the culture of air travel.’’

The airline turned the entire second level of the double-deck A380 into business class, providing a total of 94 prestige seats. Besides these, the airplane has 12 first-class and 301 coach seats for a total of 407, the fewest among airlines that currently operate A380s.

There are also a duty-free shop on board and a lounge where passengers can relax or share drinks from the bar with other passengers.

``Korean Air’s A380 is the most spacious and comfortable for passengers. The operation of A380s caters so much better to diversifying customer needs,’’ the spokesman said.