Korean Air has celebrated 45 years of connecting Seoul to New York City. Its first flight was in 1979 via a stop in Anchorage.
Milestone moment
March 29, 2024, was Korean Air’s 45th anniversary of service to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. The first flight was in 1979 from Gimpo International Airport, and it stopped at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport in Alaska before continuing to New York. When flights were launched, they were only available three times weekly, but Korean Air expanded to ten within seven years.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
To celebrate the occasion, Korean gave passengers on flight KE082 to Incheon International Airport special tote bags designed for the anniversary. The bag was made in partnership with Korean Association of New York Artists (KANA), which supports Korean-American artists. The airline also held a special event at JFK, giving the 45th passenger to check in for the flight roundtrip tickets in business class.
“What a delightful surprise this is for me. I’ve been flying with Korean Air my whole life, and I’m excited to continue doing so.” – Jihyeon Kim, winner of the business class round trip tickets
Greater US network
This month, Korean Air has 856 roundtrip flights scheduled between Korea and the US, which can carry more than 260,000 passengers. JFK, the airline’s second-busiest US route by seat numbers, has just over 44,000 seats available on two daily roundtrip flights with the Boeing 747-8i. The busiest route is to Los Angeles International Airport, where the airline deploys Boeing’s rival quadjet, the Airbus A380. LAX also gets two daily Korean Air flights, but the A380 has a higher capacity than the 747, meaning more than 48,000 seats are available to LAX this month.
The 747 is also used on flights to Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), feeding into Delta Air Lines’ network at its main hub. One daily flight is available to Atlanta, offering more than 22,000 roundtrip seats in April. Boston, Dallas, Guam, Chicago, Seattle, Washington Dulles, San Francisco, and Honolulu are also part of Korean’s US network.
Photo: Senohrabek | Shutterstock.
Breaking down the US network by aircraft type, the Boeing 777-300ER is the most-used aircraft. Of the 856 roundtrip flights, 402 are scheduled on the 777. The 777 is followed by the 747 with 180 flights, the A380 with 120, the Boeing 787-9 with 94, and the Airbus A330-300 with 60.
On top of Korean’s two daily roundtrips, its biggest competitor Asiana Airlines, also has one daily roundtrip. The two airlines are negotiating acquisition, with Korean hoping to acquire Asiana. Asiana deploys its Airbus A350-900s to New York, an aircraft type that, regardless of the merger, Korean Air will soon operate, having placed a massive $13.7 billion order for 33 planes at the end of last month.
Korean also faces competition on the route to Atlanta, with Delta offering nine weekly roundtrips on its Airbus A350-900s, offering a total seat capacity of nearly 24,000.
