Korean Air confirmed Wednesday that its purchase agreement for five Airbus A380 aircraft remains intact, even as delivery has been pushed back from 2008 to 2010. A company spokesperson said the contract, which also includes an option for three additional jets, is unchanged.
The announcement came on the same day the A380 made its first landing in South Korea, touching down at Incheon International Airport after departing Singapore earlier that morning.
The double-deck, four-engine Airbus aircraft has a maximum passenger capacity of 840 and is currently on a round-the-world certification tour. From Incheon, the plane is scheduled to return to Singapore on Thursday before flying back to Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, France. Stops in Hong Kong and Japan are planned for the weekend, followed by visits to Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, South Africa, Australia, and Canada.
The aircraft must log 150 flight hours to demonstrate readiness for commercial airline operations. If successful, export certification is expected by mid-December. Production delays stemming from wiring complications mean first deliveries to customers will not occur before October 2007.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in November 2006, in its own words.