Korean Air A321neo Business Class: Pretty Nice, But...

Excellent review. This is the sort of content that really helps. Thanks.

Hopefully you get to try CXs A321neos. Have you tried Collins' Air Rest? I think you might've on Oman Air at some point. The only thing missing on their neos would probably be wireless charging.

Just my 2 cents, but I find airline branding on everything from slippers to blankets especially if it's bold and in your face to be tacky.

I’ve been looking forward to try the KE A321neo from ICN to HKG in the next few months, and this gives a really good overview on how Korean Air’s latest narrowbody product looks like, given that it’s historically been a 737 operator. (It’s sad that KE stopped flying the A220 to HKG, as it’s such a nice, spiffy little plane which is extremely hard to find outside the US, Canada and Europe. But that’s probably for the better, since the A220 isn’t as nice inside, with no seatback IFE!)

While not a patch on Starlux’s A321neo, of course, KE certainly beats the non-lie-flat seats on CX’s A321neo — though I’ll certainly prefer the latter in Economy for its unrivalled entertainment and 4K IFE screen. I still think back fondly to my Cathay A321neo flight to Hanoi at the fag end of 2023, which was superlative in every way (not to mention Barbie in 4K!).

Speaking of Asian narrowbodies, I do hope that you’ll give SQ’s 737 MAX a try soon, as that’s probably the standout best in Southeast Asia — and maybe pair it with Vistara’s A321neo, as I’ve often asked before, before it disappears. These two are Asian lie-flat products worth reviewing, with ANA and China Airlines’ A321neos also coming to mind. I hope EVA Air also brings its world-beating widebody service to its upcoming A321neos!

I guess you're sad about KE ditching out 737s, because then you can't "visualise yourself flying Qsuites or Air France or JAL or something of that kind! ;)" anymore onboard their 737.

You are in Chitose at the airport, in Sapporo in the city and in Hokkaido if you are outside Sapporo. Source: Lived in Japan for decades.

Chitose is an awesome airport, pro tip if stuck there without lounge access the combini past security sells beer and alcohol which you can take to the gate.

Hard-product wise, KE A21Ns are excellent. Personally I prefer Collins Diamond seats on narrow-bodies than say, Thompson Vantage seats (too narrow footwells and in general, feeling very cramped) I've flown the type in economy class twice between Seoul and Busan, and it beats the airline's 737s in every way (obviously?). Wider seat, good legroom, excellent IFE (in both terms of hardware and software) and Wi-Fi, all of which are unfortunately not applicable to all KE 737s besides B38M.

What's most interesting to me, though is that those jets have air nozzles in economy class but not in business class - I've seen the cases where it's the other way around, but never this way around.

I understand the demand scheme for short-haul business class are different in other regions, but European airlines still opting for a blocked economy class seat and North American airlines installing seats more akin to international premium economy on their narrow-body jets, are just shame compared to those Asian airlines installing a long-haul seats for all classes on their narrow-bodies.

For the record, KE isn’t ditching the 737 at all, so get your facts straight. Quite to the contrary, it operates the 737 MAX 8 alongside the A321neo, A220 and existing 737s, unlike SkyTeam partner China Airlines, which is replacing all its 737-800s with A321neos and not 737 MAXes.

These two are Asian lie-flat products worth reviewing, with ANA and China Airlines’ A321neos also coming to mind.

ANA A21Ns don't have flat-bed business class. Those don't have a business class, but rather a "Premium Class" (ANA domestic business class), with recliner seats and exclusively flies within Japan.

Ah, my apologies. I guess I got my Asian narrowbody premium products mixed up, given that so many of them now operate the A321neo, as well as EVA and JAL in the future. It shows just how competitive Northeast Asian airlines are in every way, though I do wish SQ also operated the A320/1neo. Thanks for the tip!

You are in Chitose at the airport, in Sapporo in the city and in Hokkaido if you are outside Sapporo. Source: Lived in Japan for decades.

You're still in Hokkaido even if you're inside Sapporo. Sapporo is a city (to be specific, city designated by government ordinance (政令指定都市)), which is one unit lower from and included in prefectural units. You might have confused with the likes of Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto where all three of them have a prefectural status (Tokyo being to (都), Osaka and Kyoto being fu (府)).

Koreans love dessert and have shops all over the place dedicated to it. Tons and tons of varieties. Next time spend some time there and you'll see. Korean desserts such as the shaved ice are amazing and the variety is endless.

I mean, Hokkaido is the whole island, so you're in Hokkaido wherever you are on that island.

@VT-CIE - to me, it feels like A21Ns are becoming more popular in Asia than the basic variant of the family, A20N, at least when it comes to major full-service carriers. I guess it's in favour of installing more advanced seats in premium cabin (which takes up more space) while still maintaining economy class capacity - doing so requires more space, and not easy for A20N which whose fuselage is on the shorter side.

JAL A21Ns on order are expected to replace the airline's 767s used on Japan domestic flights, but since the airline has some international version B738s I guess the airline could order extra A21Ns to fly internationally (could be a good replacement for its Sky Suite II 767s). EVA Air seems pretty likely to install flat-bed seats so since the other two Taiwanese major carriers have A21Ns with flat-bed seats already.

Comparing Korean Air to Starlux is like comparing apples to oranges. While Starlux is ultra luxurious, Korean Air is more in line with other national and independent carriers. Safe & happy travels!

Hey Ben,

'Next, while the flight attendant was very friendly, once again, Korean Air just has such bizarre assembly line-style service, which seems to just not be very intuitive. For example, the coffee cup is already placed on your tray when you’re brought the meal, and then halfway through the meal (while there was still a lot of food, and I had a full glass of wine), the flight attendant asked if I wanted some coffee.'

I get it, but TBH I think a lot of this is cultural. In many Asian societies especially in the work place it is about following the rules. There would absolutely be 'service guidelines' with step 1, 2, 3 etc written down and the FA's would not be empowered to anticipate customers individual needs by deviating from the script.

One aspect you will often see Asian carriers get high marks for is consistency - whilst the assembly line method isn't particularly engaging to the local frequent flyers the consistency is what matters. Knowing every flight will more or less be a mirror of the one before and what comes when.

But as you experience, it can be a double edged sword.

I'd be fine w/ these seats on a narrow body intra-Asia or transcon US flight. Aisle access is overrated and limits number seats available for miles or lower fare. You're not gonna get up more than 2 times AT MOST on a 4-5 hr flight. Plus if you're traveling w/ someone, this is better than 1-1 seating.

I think the point is that the assembly line is stupidly designed, not that strict consistency is a bad thing.

You are never happy are you? Any business class or first class seat or even premium economy is better than economy. Why don’t you do a review on a economy seat for 16 hours

Any why the flight path hugs the coast of Japan instead of flying in a straight line to CTS?

I wouldn't want to read a review that is all 'everything is great'. I want to know what was great, what was good, what could be better.

It's also handy to be able to compare products against the competition on the same route.

Urgh economy seat for 16hrs. I just sat in one last month for 18hr5min (airborne) around 19hr total (Qantas Perth - London). I feel your pain!

Japan and Korean carriers have a much lighter F&B on super short route, for Korea, like PVG - ICN, ICN - FUK, for Japan, PVG - KIX, GMP - HND. No choice of meal, alcohol options drastically reduced. While I agree ICN - CTS shouldn't be one of them (probably due to KE cost cutting), when having normal short-haul F&B selection, like PVG - HND, I actually find the offering better than most non-ultra-luxury carriers (like Starlux)'s short haul offering.

It would be good to see a high level comparison across regional business classes, both domestic and international.

For example, Japanese domestic service is very watered down, mainly bc almost all the flights are only 1 to 2 hours long and on certain routes/aircraft they don't even offer a proper business class, just extra legroom seats.

On the other hand, regional business class also varies widely, for example EVA's 787 from TPE-HKG that you took recently, Starlux's A330neo and A321neos, etc.

I think it could be a good article and also contrast how different the experience is with US domestic vs European business etc.

North Korean, between the random unannounced missile tests and a history of kidnapping Japanese and South Koreans - you’d want to be as unambiguously in Japanese airspace as possible.

These style of seats do exist on UA and DL 757s, however these A321neo products are much more modern, and I'd certainly prefer them to generic recliners.

There are so many long transcon routes in the US that get shafted. Most notably SEA.

The comments/complains from the blogger sound like a male Karen.

The point DJC is making is moreso the city-inaka divide. Sapporo and Chitose are very different worlds to the rest of Hokkaido.

You cannot say you've done Hokkaido if all you've seen is Sapporo.

Screw top bottles on wine are no longer really seen as a token of cheapness or lack of quality. In fact, corks made of non-cork, screw top bottles and other materials have developed to such standards that even most wine makers now realize that it actually reduces the risk of the wine getting spoiled due to a faulty natural cork while still doing what the corking itself is intended to do: preserve the contents of the container. And that's quite something for a rather conservative industry type like viticulture and wine making.

So, despite the type of bottle not being the thing you should judge a wine on, the fact that what you got served sales as a cheapo wine in retail surely does. I hope it went well with the meal, even though I would probably have chosen a full bodied red wine to accompany a beef based meal with lots of spices.

Well, compred to any airline in the US or in Europe, this is an amazing shorthaul product.

"Sapporo and Chitose are very different worlds to the rest of Hokkaido."

The same could be said of Tokyo vs. the rest of Japan, or even Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka vs. the rest of Japan for that matter. Have you ever chided someone who's never left the Golden Route with "Well actually you can't say that you've done Japan yet"?

Please keep these types of (mostly critical) reviews coming. Korean Air used to be a fantastic airline and it's very clear that the hard product and soft product have degraded over the years. The F experience is fine but business is borderline a joke now. The merger with Asiana will only make things worse. As a Korean American flying to Seoul twice a year, it's disappointing to say that the United Polaris experience is now the best bang for your buck, even with its own shortcomings.

As an aside, comparisons to US or European domestic products miss the point. Asian and Middle East carriers are in a different league. You have to play ball vs your local competitors and Korean Air is more recently striking out.

If you want an economy class review, go watch Simply Aviation; they do excellent work. Complaining about a review of a business class flight on a blog that consists heavily of business and first class flight reviews is hilarious ajusshi