Korean Air 747-8F and 777F Dual Delivery

Yesterday Korean Air took delivery of its first 747-8F and its first 777F at the same time. In a ceremony featuring Korean Air Chairman & CEO Yang Ho Cho, Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Jim Albaugh, and GE Aviation CEO David Joyce, both airplanes were handed over simultaneously.

Korean Air will utilize the 747-8F to expand its existing transpacific and global services, which are now flown with a mixture of 747-400F and 747-400BCF freighters. The 777F will be utilized in part to expand routes to Europe. The 777F is the first non-747 freighter for Korean Air Cargo since the cessation of MD-11 operations in 2005, and the first non-747 Boeing freighter for the carrier since the 707.

Boeing's Jim Albaugh made note of the long relationship between Korean Air and Boeing and indeed made specific mention of Korean's old 707-300C cargo operations in the 1970s and 80s.

Photographer: Alex Kwanten