Korean Air to buy 20 Boeing 787s, lease 10 more

Reuters
Updated
FILE PHOTO: A photographer takes a photo during the first flight of the new Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner at the Charleston International Airport in North Charleston

(This June 19 story corrects to fix types of aircraft being purchased and leased in paragraph 2)

SEOUL (Reuters) - Korean Air Lines Co Ltd <003490.KS> said on Wednesday it will add 30 Boeing Co <BA.N> Dreamliner passenger jets to its fleet, including what it said would be the country's first use of the largest Dreamliner model, the 787-10.

South Korea's biggest carrier in a regulatory filing said it will buy 20 Boeing 787 Dreamliners and lease 10 Boeing 787-10s.

The deal, also jointly announced at the Paris Airshow on Tuesday, gives a needed boost to the world's largest planemaker, which has suffered a sales drought following the grounding of its 737 MAX jets in March after two deadly crashes.

"The 787 Dreamliner family will become the backbone of our mid- and long-haul fleet for many years to come," Korean Air Chairman Walter Cho was quoted as saying in a statement.

The 787 planes will replace the carrier's existing aircraft such as its A330s, B777s and B747s, Korean Air said.

(Reporting by Hayoung Choi; Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Christopher Cushing)