A Korean Air Airbus A380 has been observed on a test flight from and to Seoul.
The test flight could be a sign that the plane could soon be used for commercial flights.
According to information from planespotters.net, the double-decker, registered as HL7622, has been in storage since March 8, 2020.
However, according to data from flightradar24.com, the jumbo was seen taking off and landing at Seoul’s Incheon International Airport (ICN) on November 9, 2022, after spending more than an hour in the Korean airspace.
On November 10, 2022, the same aircraft is planned to arrive at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) in Thailand, according to schedule information from the flight tracking website.
Only four of the airline’s 10 Airbus A380 aircraft have been actively operating commercial passenger flights out of ICN. The remaining three aircraft took to the sky between June and September 2022, with one of them returning to active service in September 2020.
The company made no mention of any plans to reduce the number of A380s in service in its most recent quarterly financial report.
However, Korean Air acknowledged that there has been a significant demand for long-haul travel, particularly from the Americas, Europe, South East Asia, and Japan. The airline was able to increase its Q3 2022 sales by 65% as compared to the same quarter a year earlier.
“The fourth quarter passenger business outlook is bullish on strong passenger demand, and the airline will continue to operate flexibly through charter and extra flights,” the company noted in its Q3 2022 financial results release.