News

Korean Air A380 to feature in-flight duty free store

18 Apr 2011

Korean Air has announced it will feature the world’s first in-flight duty free store on the Airbus A380 aircraft.

The store, designed by UK firm AIM Aviation and cosmetics brand Lancome, will be located at the back of the lower deck measuring 11.9 sqm, which is the equivalent of 13 economy seats.

Jon Heath, technical director of AIM Aviation, said: “There is a loss of revenue because of that. But, they believe they can get increased revenue by selling higher branded products than they would have gotten from having those 13 seats on the aircraft. Also, by selling the advertising space, they will gain revenue from that.” 

The duty free store will consist of five units. Unit 1 is a "video wall" displaying advertisements while the other units will showcase cosmetics, fragrances, accessories and a limited selection of liquor. The store is intended to serve as a "physical catalogue". 

Each unit weighs around 130kg with the capacity to store 30kg of products. “So, the net weight is slightly less than 13 passengers,” claims Heath.

The carrier is continuously introducing new concepts on the superjumbo aircraft in its efforts to set itself apart from competitors. As previously reported, the airline was the first to devote the entire upper deck to business class. The upper deck will feature 94 Prestige Class seats while the lower deck will consist of 12 first class seats and 301 economy class seats.

The carrier is scheduled to take delivery of its first superjumbo aircraft at the end of May 2011, which will be deployed on June 1 between Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

For more information, visit www.koreanair.com

Alisha Haridasani

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