Korean Air has announced that it will conduct a comprehensive inspection of most of its Airbus A330 fleet, and retire its other examples, following a difficult couple of weeks regarding the aircraft's safety. Two incidents towards the end of October have prompted the decision, which is yet to have a specific time frame attached to it.

Thorough examinations

AeroTime Hub reports that the Seoul-headquartered SkyTeam founding member announced its plans to take a closer look at its Airbus A330 fleet two days ago, on November 2nd. A total of 24 aircraft will be subjected to these examinations, across both variants of the original A330 series. Meanwhile, another six will be retired.

Ch-aviation.com shows that Korean Air has eight A330-200s and 21 A330-300s in its fleet, with the missing 30th aircraft being the A330-300 that has already been written off following a runway excursion. These aircraft types are among the carrier's oldest, with respective average ages of 16.3 and 18.3 years old. According to AeroTime Hub, Korean Air President Woo Kee-hong said in a recent meeting:

"Korean Air is aware of the gravity of the recent events involving our A330 aircraft. To address concerns and secure a safe operation system, we will carry out a full-scale, comprehensive safety inspection of our A330 fleet and seek an independent, external safety consultation."

Get the latest aviation news straight to your inbox: Sign up for our newsletters today.

The incidents in question

The first of the two incidents that prompted Korean Air to temporarily withdraw most of its Airbus A330s for inspection involved an A330-300 registered as HL7525. On October 23rd, this twinjet suffered a runway overshoot while landing at Cebu International Airport (CEB) in the Philippines amid poor weather conditions.

The incident ultimately caused the airport to close for two days, and ended the plane's 24-year career at Korean Air. Despite the damage to the aircraft, further information later transpired that none of the 162 passengers and 11 crew members onboard the flight from Seoul Incheon International Airport (ICN) had been injured.

While this incident alone wouldn't necessarily have prompted the inspections, a second one in quick succession proved key to the decision. According to AeroTime Hub, October 30th saw a Sydney-bound A330 return to Seoul just 35 minutes after its departure from the South Korean capital due to engine issues. Korean Air will hope to put a stop to such incidents with its forthcoming Airbus A330 inspections.

UPDATE: 2022/11/07 08:08 UTC BY JAKE HARDIMAN

Korean Air shares further comments

A Korean Air spokesperson has since shared more of its President's recent comments regarding the A330 inspections with Simple Flying. Regarding other safety examinations, Woo Kee-hong notes:

"To prepare for full-scale reopening, we have been inspecting safety and service procedures including ground operations at 20 airports overseas since September 23, and are taking immediate measures to enhance safety when necessary."

Find more news about Asian aviation here!

The airline has extensive fleet renewal plans

With, as has been established, Korean Air's Airbus A330s being among its older aircraft, this move may prove to expedite their retirement. After all, Indian publication Zee News notes that the carrier is planning to take on 90 new aircraft by 2028, including 30 jets from US manufacturer Boeing's 787 'Dreamliner' family.

These modern twinjets could be ideal candidates to replace the larger Airbus A330-300s, which are the older of Korean Air's two A330 variants. The South Korean flag carrier's renewal plans will also see six Boeing 777-200ERS be withdrawn.

What do you make of Korean Air's planned Airbus A330 inspections? Have you ever flown on one of these aircraft at the carrier? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments.

Sources: AeroTime Hub, ch-aviation.com, Zee News

• 

  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

• 

  Airbus

  Stock Code:

  AIR

  Date Founded:

  1970-12-18

  CEO:

  Guillaume Faury

  Headquarters Location:

  Toulouse, France

  Key Product Lines:

  Airbus A220, Airbus A320, Airbus A330, Airbus A340, Airbus A350, Airbus A380

  Business Type:

  Planemaker