Korean Air will remove the Boeing 747 from its Honolulu flights more than a month sooner than previously planned, redirecting the aircraft to Singapore instead. The airline has eight remaining passenger-configured 747-8i aircraft and plans to operate them on seven routes until the end of the year.
Korean Air is one of three scheduled Boeing 747 passenger airlines serving the US, alongside Air China and Lufthansa. Initially, Korean Air intended to fly the 747-8 to Honolulu until October 4. However, based on a recent schedule update, the last Hawaii service for this aircraft type will now be on August 30. As a result, Korean Air's US 747 flights have been reduced by a third between August 31 and October 4.
An analysis of schedules using Cirium data shows that Korean Air has deployed various models of the 747 to Honolulu over the past decade, except during the COVID-19 pandemic years of 2020 and 2021. This year has seen fewer jumbo flights compared to previous years. In recent years, there was continuous operation of the "Queen of the Skies" on this route.