Soon after South Korea lifted its ban on Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, Korean Air’s low-cost subsidiary Jin Air has added a new plane, Boeing 737 MAX 8, to its portfolio.
According to Simple Flying, Boeing 737 MAX 8 for Jin Air was picked up from Victorville, California, after the paintwork on flight tracking services on December 2 and was taken to Seattle Boeing Field in Washington. The aircraft registered HL8353, with MSN 63443 and Line Number 8158, has conducted three flights with a total air time of seven hours.
The aircraft was assembled at Boeing’s facility in Renton, Washington. According to BOE Family Flights’ report, the plane was taken from Renton (RNT) to Grant County International Airport (MWH), popularly known as Moses Lake. After a short trip at Moses Lake, HL8353, it journeyed to Boeing Field. This trip would see the aircraft take its first test flight.
The aircraft spent nine days at Boeing Field and took off again on November 19 to Victorville, California, a two-hour trip. The jet returned to Boeing Field for further delivery preparation nearly two weeks later. On December 2, the plane was departed from Victorville, California, at 2.16 pm local time and arrived at Boeing Field in Washington at 4.27 pm local time.
Boeing usually delivers its aircraft after three flights as a standard practice, and in that case, Jin Air would receive its new Boeing 737 MAX 8 very soon.
Jin Air 737 seating configuration
As a budget carrier, Jin Air is more likely to configure its 737 with a single class, all-economy layout. The airline’s 737-800s are all fitted with 189 economy seats.
Interestingly, the press did not receive much information about Jin Air’s purchase of the 737 MAX 8. In 2015, its parent company Korean Air finalized an order for 30 737 MAX jets with Boeing. This was part of a deal that included two 777-300ERs.
The airlines in the country started expanding international flights from Korea from mid-November as the country took gradual steps to open up and live with the pandemic. Most airlines started introducing flights on a once in a weekly schedule.
Low-cost carrier Jin Air said expanded its number of flights for the Incheon-Guam route from two to four every week starting November 28. The plan is to fly once every day by the end of the year.
