Another Airbus A380 Route? Denver International Airport Eyes Nonstop Flights To South Korea

One of the top aviation news stories in 2025 was the Airbus A380’s commercial debut at the mile-high Denver International Airport (DEN) in the US federal state of Colorado. April last year saw German flag carrier and Star Alliance founding member Lufthansa inaugurate passenger flights from its Bavarian hub at Munich Airport (MUC) to Denver with the type, and recent developments have raised questions of a second A380 operator.

Specifically, Denver International Airport has published an online survey asking passengers for their views regarding a potential nonstop connection to South Korea. With South Korean flag carrier and SkyTeam founding member Korean Air being another user of the Airbus A380, this could mean that another airline will fly its superjumbos to Colorado in the long run. Let’s take a look at everything that we know so far about these developments.

Could Korean Air’s Airbus A380s Link Denver With Seoul?

Yesterday, Denver International Airport took to Facebook to share a link to an online survey with its passengers. The facility explained that “since 1995, we’ve been growing our global destinations – and now we’re exploring demand for nonstop flights to South Korea.” Titled the South Korea Air Travel Survey, the short questionnaire will be used to examine passengers’ needs in the context of the business case of nonstop flights to Seoul (ICN).

From the US side of things, Star Alliance founding member United Airlines would be an obvious choice for the route, given that Denver is one of its main hubs. However, if service were to come from the other side of the Pacific Ocean with Korean Air, this could see Denver get another A380 user, given that, per ch-aviation, the South Korean flag carrier has five in its fleet, and will get more amid its merger with Asiana. The airport explains that:

“DEN seeks to expand air service globally to support business, education, cultural exchanges, leisure and personal travel. DEN is analyzing the feasibility of nonstop flights to South Korea in order to support increased connectivity.”

What’s It Like On Board Korean Air’s Airbus A380s?

The five units of the Airbus A380 that Korean Air presently has at its disposal have an average age of 11.7 years old, putting them just below the South Korean flag carrier’s fleet-wide mean age of 12.3 years. According to current scheduling data made available by Cirium, an aviation analytics company, the airline is flying its superjumbos from Seoul Incheon to Los Angeles (LAX), New York (JFK), Taipei (TPE), and Tokyo Narita Airport (NRT).

These double-decker quadjets, per aeroLOPA, are configured in a three-class layout that has space for a grand total of 407 passengers on board. The upper deck consists entirely of ‘Prestige’ business class flatbeds, with 94 of these laid out six-abreast in a 2-2-2 setup with no direct aisle access for window seats.

Down below, as pictured above, the front of the lower deck features 12 spacious first class flatbeds that, on account of their four-abreast 1-2-1 layout, do offer direct aisle access to all passengers. The remainder of the lower deck houses the jet’s 301 economy seats, which are laid out in a 3-4-3 10-abreast setup.

Lufthansa’s A380 Flights To Denver Were A Big Hit

As previously noted, Lufthansa was the first carrier to fly the A380 to Denver, with its superjumbo flights from Munich launching back on April 30, 2025. At the time, the route was scheduled to be served by the A380 (which replaced the A350-900 and boosted capacity by 75%) for five months, until September 30 of last year. However, such was the level of demand for these flights that the A380 ended up being rostered for another month.

Just days after its A380 operations ended in the Mile High City, the German flag carrier announced at the end of October that the type would return to Colorado in the summer of 2026, with its Denver-bound superjumbo flights slated to return on June 9 of this year. The airport has not been shy about its ambitions to get another A380 operator, and it will be interesting to see if Korean Air fills that role. Simple Flying has contacted DEN for comment.