• Korean Air Boeing 787
    Korean Air
    IATA/ICAO Code:
    KE/KAL
    Airline Type:
    Full Service Carrier
    Hub(s):
    Incheon International Airport
    Year Founded:
    1969
    Alliance:
    SkyTeam
    CEO:
    Walter Cho
    Country:
    South Korea

Korean Air has added Airbus A380 flights to New York's JFK Airport to its summer flight schedule. According to the carrier's latest schedule filing, the giant of the skies is due to fly to the Big Apple from the carrier's Seoul Incheon base once a day from the start of July.

Korean Air was one of the first carriers to bring the Airbus A380 back into service. However, while the airline has technically been flying the giant of the skies since September 2020, you'd be forgiven for thinking that it hadn't. Bar four trips to Atlanta at the start of November 2019, the entirety of Korean Air's Airbus A380 schedule has involved a once-weekly flight to Guanzhou in China. This is now set to change following the addition of JFK to the schedule.

Returning to the Big Apple

Airlines regularly update their schedules, and Korean Air is no exception. While the schedules usually contain many small changes, one more significant change stood out in this week's schedule update per Cirium's schedule data. From July 1st until the IATA winter timetable in October, Korean Air has scheduled a daily Airbus A380 rotation between Seoul Incheon Airport and New York's JFK Airport. The A380 is down to operate on the following schedule, as confirmed by the Korean Air booking engine,

  • KE 81 - Seoul Incheon Airport (ICN) 10:00 - New York JFK Airport (JFK) 11:20 - Airbus A380 - 14h20m
  • KE 82 - New York JFK Airport (JFK) 13:40 - Seoul Incheon Airport (ICN) 13:40+1 - Airbus A380 - 14h55m

UPDATE: 2022/05/17 09:51 CEST BY TOM BOON

Comment from Korean Air

"[We confirm] that our A380 fleet will be serving the JFK route, with the caveat that we are running a flexible fleet schedule to meet demand and operational fluctuations. The aircraft deployed on our network is subject to change for the foreseeable future."

ICN-JFK Booking
The Airbus A380 is shown in the Korean Air booking engine. Photo: Korean Air Website

Airline schedules are constantly evolving, and this is happening more than usual due to COVID-19. Passengers wishing to travel on the Airbus A380 should be aware that Korean Air could unschedule the A380 in future schedule revisions.

JFK's Airbus A380 schedule is building

Korean Airlines will be the third airline to fly the Airbus A380 to New York since the pandemic recovery began following Emirates and Singapore Airlines. Emirates operates direct A380 flights between Dubai and JFK twice a day along with a daily 5th freedom A380 service with a stop in Milan Malpensa (MXP). Singapore Airlines' service operates as a fifth freedom service with a stop in Frankfurt in both directions. The arrival of Korean Airlines means that JFK will become one of the most diverse A380 airports in the world.

JFK A380 Services
With the addition of Korean Airlines, three airlines will fly the Airbus A380 to New York JFK. Photo: Cirium

Read More: The World's Most Diverse Airbus A380 Airports

Most of the fleet remains grounded

According to the airline's current schedule, the Airbus A380 will continue its once-a-week service to Guanzhou in China, though while scheduled for May, the airline canceled this service on May 4th and 11th. Currently, HL7614 is the only aircraft that has been used for revenue service since the start of the pandemic, operating these weekly Guangzhou flights.

GettyImages-478722327
The flight was significantly delayed as a result of the nut-induced tantrum. Photo: Getty Images

The return of the daily Airbus A380 service to JFK will mean that Korean Airlines will need to move more A380s to active service. For the JFK route alone, Korean Air will need at least two Airbus A380s as the rotation takes around 28 hours, meaning that a Tuesday service would depart before the Monday service had returned. Factor in the Guanzhou route too, and you're looking at at least three aircraft, equivalent to 30% of the Korean Air A380 fleet.

With the Airbus A380 returning to JFK, we could see more Korean Air Airbus A380 routes on the cards before too long. In May 2019, Korean Air was flying the Airbus A380 to London Heathrow, Paris Charles De Gaulle, and Los Angeles International, alongside JFK. These routes would likely remain suitable for the giant of the skies as passenger demand continues to rise to pre-pandemic levels.

Related: Airline By Airline: The Fate Of The World's Airbus A380s

Are you excited to see Korean Airlines' Airbus A380s returning to JFK? Let us know what you think and why in the comments!

Simple Flying has contacted representatives of Korean Air for comment on this story.