Two foreign airlines want to start flying the world's biggest airliner into Atlanta in the next year or so, assuming needed improvements are made to the airport, according to airport officials.
Korean Air expects to use the Airbus A380 double-deck jumbo jet on flights to Hartsfield-Jackson International "sometime next year," airport general manager Louis Miller told members of the Atlanta City Council. Air France has said it's interested in using the gigantic jet on Atlanta flights "in the near future," according to the airport.
The City Council on Monday approved the airport's request to spend up to $750,000 on architectural and engineering design services for A380 improvements. The contractor is Aviation Infrastructure Solutions.
The airport said Korean Air will replace its current Boeing 747 service between Seoul and Atlanta with A380 service. A Korean Air spokeswoman has said the airline is considering a handful of U.S. cities including Atlanta for service with the A380.
The airport said both Korean Air and Air France have asked for the ability to operate the A380 when the new international terminal opens, scheduled for next spring.
Improvements for the A380 are expected to cost $30 million -- half for taxiway and runway widening, and half for improvements to two gates on Concourse E, Miller said.
The A380 can carry 400 to 525 passengers in typical configurations. Any airport that can handle a Boeing 747 already can handle the plane, Airbus says, but big airports are adjusting gate areas and widening runway and taxiway shoulders because the plane's engines sit so far out on the wings that they may kick up debris from the grass. Such debris can be sucked into aircraft engines or cause other damage.
The airport plans to fund the improvements out of passenger facility charges -- the $4.50 each passenger pays on top of the fare to fly out of Atlanta.
The A380, which debuted in 2007, already flies to several airports in the United States.
Separately on Monday, the council approved a contract for a makeover of Concourse D, with an additional 60,000 square feet, new escalators and elevators and expanded concessions. The joint venture Holder, Moody and Bryson will do the work, set for completion by spring 2014.
