Korean Air (KE, Seoul Incheon) is set to finalise an order for twenty B777-9s and twenty B787-10s from Boeing with options for an additional ten aircraft worth USD24.9 billion. It also plans to purchase eight spare GE9X engines powering the B777-9s, with options for two more, and sign a maintenance agreement with General Electric.
The airline moved to finalise its previously signed MoU following a meeting between the CEOs of Korean Air, Boeing, and GE Aerospace's Commercial Engines and Services division, namely Won-Tae Cho, Kelly Ortberg, and Russell Stokes, in Washington, D.C., on March 21.
The airline is expected to receive 40 widebody aircraft by 2033. Korean Air said that the binding contract for the aircraft was expected to be signed in the near future.
"This cooperation in the aircraft and aircraft engine sectors has provided Korean Air with the impetus to become one of the world’s top 10 airlines. This agreement will further activate the exchange of goods and people between Korea and the US in various aspects," South Korea's minister of trade, industry and energy, Ahn Duk-geun, said following the meeting.
Korean Air signed a Letter of Intent with Boeing for twenty B777-9s and twenty incremental B787-10s during the Farnborough Air Show in July 2024.
The airline already operates six B787-10s and is expected to add fourteen more of the type in the coming years, ch-aviation fleets data reveals. It also operates fourteen B787-9s, with six more due. Korean Air is an operator of legacy B777 types: six B777-200ERs, four B777-300s, and twenty-five B777-300ERs, as well as twelve B777-200Fs. Asiana Airlines, which is now majority-owned by Korean Air, operates no B787s but has nine B777-200ERs in its fleet.
