By Jay Menon • Contributing Writer
September 21, 2026
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Korean Air will wait until the early 2030s for the first aircraft from its latest 103-aircraft Boeing order. The long lead time is not incidental to the deal. In fact, it is one of the reasons the airline is ordering now.
“Deliveries are scheduled to begin in the early 2030s. The order supports long-term network growth following the integration, while modernizing the fleet and mitigating industry-wide aircraft delivery delays,” a Korean Air spokesperson told Leeham News and Analysis (LNA).
The last part of that answer says a lot about the aircraft market that Korean Air is buying into.
Korean Air placed a “landmark” order for 50 Boeing widebodies in March 2025, in what turned out to be the beginning of a long-term fleet renewal strategy. Photo credit: Boeing
Boeing had 6,755 unfilled commercial aircraft orders at the end of August. That included 4,813 737s and 701 777s.
Korean Air is adding 50 737 Max 10s, 25 787-10s, 20 777-9s and eight 777-8 Freighters to that production queue.
For an airline fleet-planning into the next decade, identifying which aircraft to order and how to use them in its network are decisions separated by several years. Airlines are being forced to make educated guesses about the future.
