On May 30th, South Korean carrier Asiana Airlines finally resumed A380 service to New York City after a hiatus of several years. While the type was expected to be phased out during the merger with Korean Air, along with the latter’s own superjumbo fleet, their retirement seems to be postponed indefinitely due to backlogs and delays with their A350-1000 order, which they will likely not begin receive before 2027 at the earliest. While Asiana will fade out, its 6x A380s may get a new lease on life with their new owner, which is rapidly roaring back and exceeding pre-Pandemic levels of passengers. As a result, the Korean Whales will likely feature at more and more airports for some time to come.
Server: Solo
Airline: Asiana Airlines
Aircraft: Airbus A380-800
Origin: Incheon International Airport, Jung-gu, South Korea (ICN)
Destination: John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City, New York (JFK)
Flight Number: OZ224
Route: RKSI-KJFK
Seat: 3A (Business Suite)
Time En Route: 14 Hours 5 Minutes
Waiting to board at Terminal 1 at Seoul, handling most non-Skyteam flights, which moved across the airport to the then-new Terminal 2 in 2018
Pushing back from Terminal 1 while we watch Asiana’s pre-flight safety video
Taxiing out for departure to JFK. We’re in one of the A380’s 12x first-class seats, branded as Business Suites
ASIANA 224 SUPER HEAVY departing
Eastbound over the Sea of Japan
In cruise over south-central Alaska
Descending through the clouds over Pennsylvania
Welcome to the Big Apple!
Quick runway exit at JFK
Parked at one of the several A380-capable gates at Terminal 1
