Korean Air Brings The A380 Back To JFK And LAX For Summer 2026
Korean Air has filed schedules showing a return of Airbus A380 service on two of its flagship U.S. routes for the Northern Hemisphere summer 2026 season. The double-decker is set to appear again on flights from Seoul Incheon (ICN) to New York (JFK) and Los Angeles (LAX) from late March.
The move is primarily about capacity. Both New York and Los Angeles are among Korean Air’s most important long-haul markets, and the A380 allows the airline to add seats without adding additional frequencies.
New York JFK Gets Daily A380 From March 29
Korean Air’s schedule shows the A380 switching onto the ICN–JFK route from March 29, 2026, replacing the Boeing 777-300ER that currently operates the service.
Planned timing in the schedule filing is as follows:
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ICN → JFK: Depart 10:00am, arrive 10:00am the same day (local time)
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JFK → ICN: Depart 12:00pm, arrive 5:45pm the next day (local time)
The block time is listed at roughly 14 hours eastbound, with a similarly long westbound sector. Korean Air has used the A380 to JFK in recent peak periods, and this filing indicates a more structured seasonal deployment rather than a one-off surge.
Los Angeles Also Sees A380 Upgauge From March 30
Los Angeles is also slated for a widebody swap. From March 30, 2026, Korean Air plans to operate the A380 on ICN–LAX four times weekly on:
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Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday
This change is scheduled to replace the Boeing 747-8 currently used on the route.
The schedule filing lists the following local times for the service on operating days:
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KE11 ICN → LAX: Depart 7:40pm, arrive 1:40pm the same day
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KE12 LAX → ICN: Depart 10:50pm, arrive 5:10am two days later
For Korean Air, LAX is a natural candidate for the A380. The airline has historically leaned on its largest aircraft here during high-demand windows, and the West Coast market tends to support larger gauges thanks to a mix of origin-and-destination demand and onward connectivity.
What This Means For Capacity And Competition
Putting the A380 back on JFK and introducing it again on LAX (even on a limited weekly pattern) signals a clear intent: more seats into the U.S. without expanding the schedule.
It also lands at a time when widebody capacity planning in the Korea–U.S. market is in flux. Korean Air and Asiana are still navigating the long runway of integration planning, and aircraft availability across the industry remains tight. In parallel, Asiana has been adjusting its own A380 flying, including changes affecting Los Angeles.
Korean Air’s A380 Fleet: Five Aircraft
Korean Air operates a small A380 fleet—five aircraft—which makes each deployment decision meaningful. The airline’s A380s are:
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HL7619 (MSN 96) — Delivered Dec 10, 2012
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HL7621 (MSN 126) — Delivered Aug 27, 2013
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HL7622 (MSN 128) — Delivered Oct 25, 2013
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HL7627 (MSN 130) — Delivered Jun 27, 2014
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HL7628 (MSN 156) — Delivered Jul 28, 2014
With only five frames, the A380 tends to be assigned where it can make the biggest impact—either on consistently strong routes or during seasonal peaks.
Bottom Line
Korean Air’s published summer 2026 schedules indicate that the Airbus A380 will return to daily service on Seoul–JFK from March 29, and will also operate four times weekly on Seoul–LAX from March 30. For travelers, that means more capacity—and for these routes, it also means a notable aircraft upgrade compared with the widebodies currently scheduled.
