Asiana to deploy 2nd A350 on long-haul routes

Asiana Airlines Inc., South Korea's No. 2 full-service passenger carrier by sales, said Thursday it will deploy its second A350 jet on long-haul routes from next week.

The second of four A350 jets scheduled to be delivered this year arrived at the Incheon International Airport later in the day after a day-long flight from Airbus, a Toulouse-based civil aircraft manufacturer, the company said in a statement. 

The second A350 will carry passengers on routes to Shanghai and Singapore from Tuesday and to Hanoi and San Francisco from mid August, it said.

The first A350 began serving the Hong Kong and Manila routes in April and will make flights to San Francisco and London after August, the company said.

Asiana Airlines plans to bring in a total of 30 midsize A350 jets by 2025. The A350, which can seat 311 people, costs more than $300 million but real transaction prices may differ depending on options. 

The highly fuel efficient passenger plane can travel up to 8,100 nautical miles, or 14,985 kilometers on a full fuel tank. (Yonhap)