Over the summer, Korean Air introduced a new business class product, which was an exciting development for the airline. I wanted to talk a bit about this product, and also cover on which routes you’ll find it, as this is now available on select long haul services.
In this post:
Details of Korean Air’s new business class suites
Korean Air has debuted its new business class product:
- The new business class debuted on the Boeing 787-10, as the airline has 20 of these aircraft on order
- Existing Boeing 777-300ERs should also be retrofitted with these cabins eventually, and the airline has 25 of these in its fleet, though the timeline remains to be seen
- While Korean Air also plans to soon introduce premium economy, this is no longer debuting on the Boeing 787-10, but rather will likely first be available on the Boeing 777-300ER
You’ve gotta respect the way that Korean Air has introduced this product. Rather than teasing it for years, the airline didn’t even put out a press release about it, but simply updated the page dedicated to the Boeing 787-10.
Korean Air’s new business class is named Prestige Suites 2.0, and it’s a staggered business class product in a 1-2-1 configuration. Specifically, Korean Air has selected the Collins Aerospace Horizon seat, which is already in service on a few airlines. It initially debuted on Aeroflot A350-900s, but due to the trade restrictions in place against Russia, these A350-900s now fly for Turkish Airlines and Air India. I’ve reviewed Turkish’s A350 business class, and found it to be excellent.
Each seat has 46″ of pitch (since the footwell for the seat is to the side of the seat in front), 21″ of width, and turns into a 78.2-79.2″ flat bed. Seats also feature privacy doors, which are 52″ high. Seats feature excellent tech, including a 23.8″ ultra high definition entertainment monitor, 60W USB-C charging, AC power outlets, wireless charging, bluetooth audio, and more.
Korean Air is also offering Wi-Fi on its Boeing 787-10s, making it the first wide body aircraft in the fleet to have connectivity (this has otherwise debuted on select narrow body jets, including the Airbus A321neo and Boeing 737 MAX 8). For those curious about pricing, the airline charges $10.95-13.95 for this on medium haul flights, and $10.95-20.95 for this on long haul flights, with no data caps. Messaging plans are available at a lower cost.
The Boeing 787-10 has a total of 36 business class seats, taking up the entire space between the first and second set of doors.
Korean Air Boeing 787-10 routes & flights
Want to fly Korean Air’s new Boeing 787-10? The jet has been operating short haul flights within Asia in recent months, but is now also starting to operate long haul routes. Specifically, here are the current planned long haul routes for the largest version of the Dreamliner:
- The 787-10 is flying between Seoul Incheon (ICN) and Vancouver (YVR), on the KE71/72 frequencies
- As of December 1, 2024, the 787-10 will fly between Seoul Incheon (ICN) and Honolulu (HNL), on the KE53/54 frequencies
- As of January 1, 2025, the 787-10 will fly between Seoul Incheon (ICN) and Seattle (SEA), on the KE41/42 frequencies
My take on Korean Air’s new business class product
It’s exciting to see airlines introduce new business class products, since seating choices have come a long way over the years. That being said, Korean Air currently has Apex Suites as its standard long haul business class product, which is one of my favorite business class seats in the world. The window seats in this configuration are simply awesome, and offer an unparalleled amount of privacy and space.
The catch with Apex Suites is that they’re not at all efficient in terms of their footprint, so while they’re great for passengers, they’re not great for airlines.
With that in mind, Korean Air’s new business class product looks great, and I think passengers will mostly view it as an upgrade:
- The seats have excellent tech, from charging options, to a high-definition monitor, to bluetooth audio, to Wi-Fi; hopefully Korean Air also updates its entertainment selection in the process
- The seats offer lots of privacy and should be quite comfortable
- Many people will appreciate the staggered configuration, since you can choose to sit alone by a window, or can choose one of the pairs of “honeymoon seats” in alternating rows in the center section
One other thing that really stands out to me about the new product is the cabin finishes. Korean Air has historically leaned heavily into using a powder blue color, which is… a choice. I can’t help but feel like Korean Air’s cabin finishes have just felt very dated, between the powder blue and the weird faux wood.
Korean Air is now going for much darker and more neutral cabin finishes, described as a “contemporary yet culturally resonant look.” While no doubt a bit less distinctive, I think the aesthetics are much better. With the Korean Air and Asiana merger soon expected to be finalized, presumably this is Korean Air’s new planned cabin design going forward.
Honestly, if we saw the end of Korean Air’s powder blue and Asiana’s brown, it wouldn’t be much of a loss, if you ask me. I’ll take it a step further — it should be a contributing factor in support of the merger. 😉
Bottom line
Korean Air has launched its new business class product, dubbed Prestige Suites 2.0. These new seats have debuted on the Boeing 787-10, which have already entered service, and they should also eventually be retrofitted on Boeing 777-300ERs.
Korean Air selected the Collins Aerospace Horizon seat, which is an excellent product, with lots of privacy and great tech. Then again, Korean Air’s existing Apex Suites are quite comfortable as well, but not nearly as efficient for the airline in terms of space utilization.
What do you make of Korean Air’s new business class?
@ben, overall, how does this new business hard product compare to the Apex Suites's window seats?
I would, unironically, like to see a review of this product, because it’s the first time Collins’ Horizon seats are being installed on something other than A350s that were either delivered to Aeroflot (as WHS noted below) or were intended for Aeroflot but went to Turkish Airlines or Air India. The differences between the A350 and 787 will be interesting.
Also concur with NS below that the SQ 737 MAX would be a great review, along with the JAL A350 in business.
Thinking that Ben could have written an actual review post by this point, rather than an introduction post...
Hopefully Ben would try to fly on this again. If you actually go to Korea, please also consider flying SQ B38M from Busan to Singapore as well - it's a been while since SQ 737s came out and he haven't reviewed that yet.
Why does this matter?
According to a wise man by the name of VT-CIE, this is a product not worth trying out and, thus it's better fly on some random 737 and "visualise yourself flying Qsuites or Air France or JAL or something of that kind! ;)".
As long as they keep their safety video I'm happy.
Readers here should have a review coming soon as Ben is planning to fly the 787-10 very soon.
NOT!!!!
You can send your thanks to VT-CIE.
And take VT-CIE wisdom advice while looking at a 737, "visualise yourself flying Qsuites or Air France or JAL or something of that kind! ;)"
Always love Korean Air stewardess.
OMG Hawaii gets a new product.
Going to try hard to get on this flight next summer.
To be correct, 787-10 is not the first widebody aircraft with connectivity for Korean Air.
They've been installing Wi-Fi on 777-300ER since the first half of this year, so 77W is the first widebody with connectivity for them. Not all of their 77W fleet have it yet, so they haven't made it official, but I used it when I flew KE last month.
Ben, you’ve said this in a few posts but I don’t think you understand the situation with the Aeroflot-configured A350s. The product debuted on the SU A359 and the airline took delivery of 7 of these aircraft before the sanctions took effect. These aircraft continue to fly with Aeroflot and the airline has no intention of selling them or returning them to any lessor or ownership interest. The aircraft flying with this configuration with Turkish...
Ben, you’ve said this in a few posts but I don’t think you understand the situation with the Aeroflot-configured A350s. The product debuted on the SU A359 and the airline took delivery of 7 of these aircraft before the sanctions took effect. These aircraft continue to fly with Aeroflot and the airline has no intention of selling them or returning them to any lessor or ownership interest. The aircraft flying with this configuration with Turkish Airlines and Air India never operated for Aeroflot, they were simply delivered new from Airbus to TK and AI with the Aeroflot interior. I hope this makes sense and you can update your posts so as to not confuse readers about the actual situation.
Bummer these won't be available until later in the year or from east coast (JFK). I will be flying JFK-ICN-SIN end of November. Would've been nice to try
Further upgrade for the StRoNgEsT TPAC JV with the most premiumest US airline!
It's a genuinely high quality product and a big step up for the old 2-2-2 KE Prestige Sleepers.
We really don't need to bring him up every time. Can't we just have a normal discussion?
@yoloswag420
The fact that you thought they can leave him for a literal second...
Would be nice to get an in-depth review of this.
Will be flying this in Jan.
Is a proper recognition due here for the (lack of) review on KE new 787-10 Prestige review?
So… can we expect these to be retrofitted to Asiana’s A350-900s as well after the merger concludes?
Possibly yes
If it's not a sickly blue I don't want it >:(
Curious, what makes an airline decide what route gets the launch of a new business class or first class product? YVR is a small market realistically. As well not a major connection hub for Korea Air. Noticed YVR has gotten Lufthansa and now Korean. I think a few years back YVR was also getting 787 new launches when the plane was new and shiny. Does the airport play a role in it?
For Korean, since their new product is on a new type, they seem like the want to maximize the aircraft's efficiency rather than YVR being a 'premium" market. The 7810 is a great a/c from North Asia to the West Coast.
For an airline like CX, when they introduced the first iteration of their herringbone business class product, they initially deployed their A330s to SYD while the 77W was deployed to JFK and LHR as they are considered their most premium routes.
Exactly! KE doesn't see 787-10 as a premium fleet. It's just for (relatively) low yield or low demand long haul market.
It’s a bit disappointing that they are not installing PE on their 787-10s, if they are going to be flying them to North America. Definitely out of step with the Japanese and Taiwanese airlines, as well as JV partner DL.
EVA Air doesn't have PE on their 787-10s as well.