- Introduction: Around The World (And Then Some) In 5 Days
- Review: United Polaris Lounge Newark Airport
- Review: Austrian Business Class 767 Newark To Vienna
- Review: Moxy Vienna Airport
- Review: Austrian Business Lounge Vienna Airport
- Review: EgyptAir Business Class 737 Vienna To Cairo
- Review: Oman Air Business Class A330 Cairo To Muscat
- Review: Oman Air First Class Lounge Muscat Airport
- Review: Oman Air Business Class Lounge Muscat Airport
- Review: Oman Air First Class Service By Design
- Review: Oman Air First Class 787 Muscat To London
- Review: Air Belgium Lounge Charleroi Airport
- Review: Air Belgium Business Class A340 Charleroi To Hong Kong
- Review: SkyTeam Lounge Hong Kong Airport
- Review: Korean Air First Class A330 Hong Kong To Incheon
- Review: Korean Air First Class Lounge Incheon Airport
- Review: Korean Air First Class 787 Incheon To San Francisco
Korean Air 604
Hong Kong (HKG) – Seoul Incheon (ICN)
Tuesday, July 3
Depart: 12:15PM
Arrive: 4:55PM
Duration: 3hr40min
Aircraft: Airbus A330-300
Seat: 1A (First Class)
In my experience Korean Air is one of the most consistent airlines when it comes to their onboard soft product, both in terms of service and food. However, the quality of their seats varies greatly.
At the forward door I was greeted by the cabin manager and one of the flight attendants, and escorted to my seat. Korean Air has just six first class seats on the A330, in a 2-2-2 configuration.
Korean Air A330 first class seats
It goes without saying that this is an underwhelming first class hard product. For the short flight to Incheon it was no big deal, but Korean Air does operate this plane on longhaul flights, and I’d be very unhappy to book a longhaul international first class seat and get this. This is a subpar business class product, and most definitely not an acceptable first class product.
Korean Air A330 first class cabin
What’s even more disappointing is that Korean Air has virtually the same seat in business class on this plane. Yes, the below picture is of their business class seats. They have 18 business class seats, spread across three rows in a 2-2-2 configuration.
Korean Air A330 business class cabin
Below are pictures of the first class seats once again. As you can see, the only difference is that first class seats have ottomans and a larger console with the personal television.
Korean Air A330 first class seats
The ottoman becomes part of the seat when you fully recline it. Then there’s a personal television on the bulkhead, as well as a shelf where you could place something during the flight, given that the seats otherwise lack storage.
Korean Air A330 first class seats
The simple seat controls are along the outer armrests.
Korean Air first class seat controls
Then underneath the center armrests are the entertainment controllers.
Korean Air first class entertainment controls
The tray table, which can be folded over in half, is also located in the center armrest.
Korean Air first class tray table
Also underneath the center armrest were two 110v outlets.
Korean Air first class power outlets
There’s a small privacy shield that can be extended between seats for more privacy, though it by no means gives you full privacy, though it’s better than nothing. There are also reading lights and USB outlets in this area.
Korean Air first class privacy partition
Note that Korean Air doesn’t have individual air nozzles on their A330s.
Already waiting at my seat on boarding were the menu and wine list for the flight.
Korean Air first class menu & wine list
Also in the literature pocket were a pair of slippers and a shoe bag.
Korean Air first class slippers
There was a plush pillow and a fleece blanket at my seat, which were fine for the short flight.
Korean Air first class pillow & blanket
As soon as I settled in, the flight attendant taking care of me introduced herself and familiarized me with the seat. She asked me what I’d like to drink, and I ordered a glass of champagne. I was also asked if I wanted some nuts.
A few minutes later I was brought a glass of rose champagne (Perrier-Jouet Blason Rose) and some macadamia nuts. It’s strange that the only champagne Korean Air serves on short-haul flights is rose.
Korean Air first class champagne & macadamia nuts
I was then also offered Bose headphones.
Korean Air first class Bose headphones
The boarding process was efficient, and was completed within 15 minutes. First class had just three of six seats occupied. I really don’t mind the 2-2-2 configuration if I have an empty seat next to me (as all three of us did on this flight), but I’d feel differently if I had a seatmate in international first class.
Around this time the cabin manager came around and welcomed aboard all three of us. A minute later her colleague came by to take my lunch order.
After that the safety video was screened, and then at 12:10PM we began our pushback, among a sea of Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon planes.
Cathay Pacific A330 Hong Kong Airport
Cathay Dragon A330 Hong Kong Airport
We taxied for about 10 minutes, and then just stood still. At 12:30PM the captain apologized for our delay due to congestion, and said that we were number five for takeoff, and should be departing in about 10 minutes. He also announced that the flight time should be 3hr15min.
United 777 Hong Kong Airport
At 12:40PM we were cleared for takeoff on runway 25L, right behind a United 777.
Taking off Hong Kong Airport
We had a quick takeoff roll, and hit a few bumps on the climb out. Within 10 minutes the seatbelt sign was turned off.
View after takeoff from Hong Kong
As we climbed out I took a look at the flight map for our journey.
Airshow enroute to Incheon
I also browsed the entertainment selection. Korean Air isn’t industry leading when it comes to entertainment — in this case there were a handful of TV shows and about 50 movies, which is alright, though not great.
Korean Air entertainment selection
Korean Air entertainment selection
Korean Air entertainment selection
The crew was very quick with getting started on the service, and the lunch service began just 15 minutes after takeoff.
The menu read as follows:
The drink list read as follows:
Service began with warm towels.
Korean Air first class warm towel
My table was then set, and I was brought another glass of champagne.
Korean Air first class Perrier-Jouet rose
Korean Air has some of the most elaborate meal services in first class of any airline out there. Perhaps most interesting is that they just assume you want their five plus course meal. I feel like on Etihad they look at you like you have two heads if you ask for more than a three course meal (maybe just because they know they’ll run out of food?), while on Korean Air they don’t even ask if you want everything, but rather just assume that you do.
To start I was served grilled beef and leek with Chinese XO sauce.
Korean Air first class lunch — amuse bouche
Next up was the appetizer, which consisted of marinated feta cheese covered with tomato jelly, crab meat stuffed tomato, and mango coulis.
Korean Air first class lunch — appetizer
Next up was a butternut cream soup.
Korean Air first class lunch — soup
Then I had a mixed green salad with tomato and mozzarella cheese with red wine shallot dressing.
Korean Air first class lunch — salad
For the main course I ordered the bibimbap. I realize you can only get so creative with bibimbap, though I do wish they’d mix it up a little bit sometimes.
Korean Air first class lunch — main course
This came with instructions, as usual.
Korean Air first class lunch — bibimbap instructions
Lastly there was dessert, which was served off a cart. I just wanted some fruit at that point, so had melon, kiwi, and pineapple.
Korean Air first class lunch — dessert
The meal was spectacular for a short flight, I thought. The food quality was great, and the service incredibly attentive. The other two passengers just slept the whole way, so I had two flight attendants taking care of just me.
I was hoping to get some sleep on this flight, so I was also grateful for the pace of the service. The entire meal service took only about an hour from start to finish, meaning I had over two hours left in the flight when the meal was done. At this point we were just passing Taipei.
Korean Air airshow
I was quite tired at this point given that I hadn’t slept much on my overnight Air Belgium flight, so I reclined my seat. I don’t think Korean Air’s A330 first class seats are quite flat, but rather there’s a slight angle. Even as someone who is generally sensitive to seat angles, I didn’t find this to be an issue at all, and was extremely comfortable.
Korean Air A330 first class bed
I woke up about 30 minutes before landing as we were starting our descent, and the captain provided updated arrival information. I quickly checked out the lavatory at the front of the cabin, which had a few amenities.
Korean Air first class lavatory A330
Korean Air first class lavatory amenities
The cabin was prepared for arrival about 20 minutes before landing, so I spent the rest of the flight looking out the window.
Airshow approaching Incheon
There was quite a bit of cloud coverage on approach, and I could tell the pilots were vectoring to avoid some of the weather.
Descending towards Incheon
Descending towards Incheon
Descending towards Incheon
We touched down at Incheon Airport at 4:50PM on runway 33R.
Final approach to Incheon
We had to taxi quite a distance to our arrival gate.
Taxiing Incheon Airport
Fortunately we were arriving at Terminal 2, which is Incheon’s newest terminal. I was quite excited about finally getting to see it.
Taxiing Incheon Airport
As we pulled into the gate there was a KLM 747 pushing back at the gate next to us, and we parked next to a Korean Air 777 in a special livery.
KLM 747 Incheon Airport
Korean Air 777 Incheon Airport
Korean Air A330 first class bottom line
Korean Air’s A330 first class hard product leaves a lot to be desired. While it was perfectly fine for a short flight with an empty seat next to me, I’d feel much different if traveling on a longhaul flight and I had a seatmate. It’s odd to me how they have the same seat in first and business class.
On the plus side, Korean Air really nails the soft product with excellent service and an elaborate meal. There’s so little variance in terms of the quality of Korean Air’s first class soft product, so I appreciate the consistency.
If you’ve flown Korean Air’s A330 first class, what was your experience like?
interestingly, that's the exact same bibimbap they served me in Y about 5 years ago.
@Marco Dupre
Note that this is First class as opposed to Business Class. Still better though.
I think it is a great service for a regional flight. All you can have in a European flight is an economy seat with a smoked salmon salad...
To think that A332 with same F-class seat served ICN-LAX-GRU back in 2014... and it still serves some of European/Australian destinations
@Lucky
"Even as someone who is generally sensitive to seat angles, I didn’t find this to be an issue at all"
I've read this on nearly all your recent reviews of an angled seat - but I don't recall you ever mentioning about a poor sleep due to the angled seat and your sensitivity to it. Perhaps you're not as sensitive to angled beds as you once thought!
Oh my if you were alive in the golden age of flying. No private suites, no laptops. What would you do? Its amazing anyone survived flying first class because you had someone sitting next to you.
Wow, throwback to the 70s. TAAG looked better.....
Isn't this the same meal they serve on long haul biz class?
Bibamfrickinbap. Every KAL flight. Like Malaysian’s long-ago ‘signature satay’ chicken skewers, novelty wears off by about segment three of a long-haul slog. A little more variety would kill the consultant celebrity chefs?
That F hard product looks little better than the dated 2-3-2 biz seats on the A380 top deck though I always get good kip on the angled lie-flat bed. F is superb though the 748 F and J all aisle access layout has...
Bibamfrickinbap. Every KAL flight. Like Malaysian’s long-ago ‘signature satay’ chicken skewers, novelty wears off by about segment three of a long-haul slog. A little more variety would kill the consultant celebrity chefs?
That F hard product looks little better than the dated 2-3-2 biz seats on the A380 top deck though I always get good kip on the angled lie-flat bed. F is superb though the 748 F and J all aisle access layout has the so-private window seats.
The bar I found soulless and it was hard to get service, or a seat after two drunks gave up on a loudly snoring companion and decamped to the back, sprawling over almost all the available sofa seating. Subsequent flights I’ve stayed in the seat.
@Michelle KE also do bibimbap in economy, it’s a signature thing in all classes. It’s been a long time but I remember the KE economy bibimbap being one of the best economy meals ever. One of the differentiators is that KE have their own organic farm to supply meat and vegetables for first and business class meals. Cranky Flyer did an article on it.
So what can one actually expect to differ from the soft product if taking business class Vs. first class on this plane? The champagne choice and may be more courses during meal time? But I think they also serve bibambap in business.
@Lucky
"It’s odd to me how they have the same seat in first and business class." Why are you surprised? KE did the same thing on their new 787s missing the opportunity to launch a fantastic F hard product. They seem to operate like an entitled family and I don't think they do a lot research when deciding their cabins. Even their A380 F hard product is pretty poor by today's standards.
"Descending towards Incheon" - gorgeous photo
@Endre
You clearly haven't flown all of Korean Air's first class products to say something like that. I guess they must be out of your price range.
What’m are the options to book KE now that UR transfers are not an option? Thank you
What a joke! As a First Class expert, I must say Korean Air is clueless on what First Class class service means. Better stick to Japan Airlines or Cathay if you want to pay for real luxury and genuine professionalism.
VT-CIE should've liked this comment.
I transfered 80k UR to book ATL -> HKG in the winter. You get 16 hours of 747-8 first class suite then 5 hours A380 to HKG. I think it's a seasonal destination for the A380.
LH First Class passengers, conneting in Frankfurt to Cairo or TLV (same duration) would be really happy to have this hard product.
“Yes, the below picture is of their business class seats.”
The pic immediately below that is of first class (note oversized pillows).
Crazy that they use those seats in First. Those look exactly the same as their J seats on their A380. My biggest issue with Korean beside the hard product, is I feel they do the second meal service on the ICN-JFK route WAY too early. Korean’s service is so robotic you know eactly what to expect every time. There’s pros and cons to this. I much prefer Asiana in every regard. I love having the...
Crazy that they use those seats in First. Those look exactly the same as their J seats on their A380. My biggest issue with Korean beside the hard product, is I feel they do the second meal service on the ICN-JFK route WAY too early. Korean’s service is so robotic you know eactly what to expect every time. There’s pros and cons to this. I much prefer Asiana in every regard. I love having the onboard bar with Korean, I’ve met some interesting people while mingling there. But it doesn’t make up for the robotic service, early second meal, and subpar hard product for me.
When I flew KE F HND-GMP/ICN-LAX earlier this year, the HND-GMP leg was similarly catered with a peculiar assortment of beverages; we had no rose champagne at all and only red wines. The FAs were super apologetic but offered no reason why all the choices on the wine menu weren't available.
@Lucky, the cloud-filled approach photos in this and the Air Belgium Business Class A340 Charleroi To Hong Kong reviews are really great!
I got lucky (no pun intended), my aircraft got switched to a 748 when I flew that route in April.
Macadamia nuts on a plate. LOL