Asian airline Korean Air on Tuesday received the first of its Airbus A380 jetliners, an aircraft powered by engines built by a consortium involving Connecticut’s Pratt & Whitney Co. and General Electric.
The A380 jetliners given to Korean Air in France use the Alliance GP7200 engine developed by Engine Alliance LLC, a joint venture of East Hartford-based Pratt and Fairfield-based GE.
The Engine Alliance formed in August 1996 create engines for high capacity, long range aircraft.
Korean Air will be the sixth operator of the A380 and will receive four more of the aircraft by the end of this year. The airline will then receive an additional five by 2014. Korean Air will use the A380 from Seoul to destinations in Asia before moving onto long-haul services in North American and Europe.
 Airbus has orders for 104 more A380s powered by Engine Alliance, in addition to 20 currently in service. The airlines Emirates and Air France have the other ones currently in service.
