Korean Air is to inaugurate its new A380 “superjumbo” on a route between New York City and Seoul this week.

The airline, which is the seventh in the world to fly the enormous Airbus aircraft, will wave off the first A380 flight from New York across the Pacific Ocean on August 9, launching what it describes as a “new age of air travel.”

It will be the first A380 service between Asia and New York, carrying some 407 passengers — considerably less than the 525 that the A380 is capable of.

Absolut Vodka has teamed up with Korean Air in a deal that will see the unit launch Absolut bars on ten of the airline’s new Airbus A380s.

The onboard ‘Celestial Bars’ – two in Business Class and one in First Class – will also feature duty free Absolut products to purchase.

The first Korean Air Airbus A380 took off on 17 June. The next four will be delivered by the end of 2011 and an additional five by 2014.

Korean Air is to introduce a new two-story A380 aircraft that features only Business Class seats on the second floor in May.

The 407-seat aircraft, built in partnership with Airbus, will be composed of 12 First Class, 94 Business Class and 301 Economy Class seats.

Korean Air says this deck will have 94 lie-flat sleeper seats, with 74in pitch. This will give business passengers a sense of “exclusivity”