KOREAN AIR TO INTRODUCE AIRBUS A380 SUPER JUMBO SERVICE BETWEEN SEOUL AND LOS ANGELES IN OCTOBER
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa cheered the announcement today that Korean Air will begin air service with Airbus A380 super jumbo aircraft between Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Seoul-Incheon International Airport on Oct. 1, 2011. Los Angeles will be Korean Air’s only destination on the U.S. West Coast when the airline introduces its A380 service worldwide beginning this spring to five major cities.
“Our work to modernize LAX to accommodate the next-stage jets is paying dividends for travelers and the local economy. I am proud to welcome Korean Air’s new A380 service to LAX to encourage even more travelers from Asia to come to Los Angeles for business and pleasure,” said Mayor Villaraigosa.
“We are excited about the new service and how it will support our mission to serve Los Angeles and the Americas,” said Korean Air Vice President of Marketing John Jackson. “We are devoting the aircraft’s entire second level to 94 lie-flat, business-class seats, so it’s going to be a unique experience.”
Korean Air operates at the LAX Tom Bradley International Terminal, where the first phase of the $1.5-billion “Bradley West” construction project that began last February is scheduled for completion in December 2012. Phase I includes new west side gates and a Great Hall. Phase II, which will be finished December 2013, includes new east side gates. The entire project will provide 18 new boarding gates/waiting areas (including nine that can accommodate new-generation aircraft such as the A380 and the Boeing 787 Dreamliner); a Great Hall with 140,000 square feet for premier dining, retail shopping, other passenger amenities and airline club lounges; larger and upgraded customs and immigration federal inspection areas for more efficient arriving passenger processing; secured corridors between Terminals 3 and 4 located on the north and south sides of the Tom Bradley International Terminal so connecting passengers can conveniently go from one terminal to the next.
Korean Air currently has four daily departures from LAX to Seoul (three nonstop flights and one via Tokyo-Narita International Airport), and plans to upgrade its only daily departure from LAX that uses Boeing 747s with the new super-jumbo aircraft. Korean Air flight 018 using the A380 will depart from LAX daily at 12:30 pm and arrive at Seoul around 5 p.m. the following day. The return flight will leave Seoul at 3 p.m. and arrive at LAX at 10:30 a.m.
Korean Air’s Jackson says that its A380 will be one of the most spacious in the industry, configured with just 407 seats, featuring 12 first-class and 301 economy-class seats on the first level and 94 Prestige seats on the all business-class upper level.
Korean Air will begin its A380 service on shorter hauls starting June 1 from Seoul to Tokyo and to Hong Kong. It plans to expand to Bangkok later that month before starting U.S. service in August at New York-John F. Kennedy International Airport.
The Airbus A380 aircraft is designed for very long distances, such as the trans-oceanic routes between LAX and the Asia-Pacific region. Noise generated by A380 operations is quieter than noise from Boeing 747 operations, and the A380 is more fuel-efficient and less polluting – all significant benefits to neighboring airport communities.
About Korean Air
Korean Air, with a fleet of 131 aircraft, is one of the world’s top 20 airlines, and operates almost 400 passenger flights per day to 114 cities in 39 countries. It is a founding member of the Sky Team alliance, together with its 13 members, that offers its 395 million annual passengers a worldwide system of more than 13,000 daily flights covering 898 destinations in 169 countries.
In 2010, Business Traveler named Korean Air the best Asian airline for the fourth consecutive year and best transpacific business class for the fifth straight year, while Global Traveler awarded the airline with best business class seat design and best airport staff/gate agent. The carrier won the 2010 global travel catering distinction award by Pax International magazine, while World Traveler magazine rated it as having the world’s best in-flight service. Travel & Leisure magazine readers say it is one of the world’s top 10 international airlines and readers of Conde Nast Traveler magazine voted Korean Air one the world’s top 10 global airlines.
In 1972, Korean Air began service at Los Angeles, which is home to the largest population of Koreans and Korean-Americans in the United States. South Korea is Los Angeles’ third largest trading partner with total two-way trade valued at $17.7 billion in 2009.
About Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
LAX is the seventh busiest airport in the world and third in the United States, offering more than 565 daily flights to 81 destinations in the U.S. and over 1,000 weekly nonstop flights to 65 international destinations. In 2009, LAX served 56.5 million passengers, processed nearly 1.7 million tons of air cargo, and handled 544,833 aircraft operations (landings and takeoffs). It is the busiest origin-destination airport in the U.S., with more passengers beginning and ending their journeys at LAX than at any other U.S. airport. LAX is part of Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), a proprietary City department that also owns and operates LA/Ontario International and Van Nuys (general aviation) airports, as well as aviation-related property at Palmdale. LAWA receives no funding from the City’s general fund.