In March 2025, Korean Air revealed a major rebranding, which follows the merger between Korean Air and Asiana being finalized. What’s exciting is that changes at the airline go way beyond just branding, as the airline is also investing in the passenger experience, like launching a new first class product, and adding premium economy.
Korean Air is also hugely investing in its premium ground experience at Seoul Incheon Airport (ICN), which includes renovating existing lounges, while also increasing capacity. We’re continuing to see more of these lounges progressively open, so I’d like to cover the full details of the project, and where things stand.
In this post:
Korean Air is improving & expanding its lounge network
Up until recently, I’d argue that Korean Air had among the worst (if not the worst) lounges of any major airline that’s well regarded. In particular, the lounges were sterile and had lackluster food and drinks. That was true whether you were at the carrier’s Incheon Terminal 2 hub, or at one of the outstation lounges. Just check out my reviews of the Prestige Lounge Incheon and First Lounge Incheon.
Fortunately that’s changing. For one, Korean Air is introducing a completely new lounge aesthetic. Lounges are going from looking like hospital waiting rooms (which is how I’d describe the previous aesthetic), to looking more in line with what you’d expect. The concept is described as being inspired by hotel lobbies, with distinct zones for dining, relaxation, meetings, and wellness.
Korean Air claims that interiors blend sophisticated Korean design with modern luxury, including a color palette of gold, charcoal, black, and ivory, mirroring the Korean Air premium cabin aesthetic. Then there are traditional Korean architectural elements, including Hanok inspired structures. The lounges also increasingly feature wood and marble, as well as warm ambient lighting.
Korean Air is also upgrading its lounge food and beverage offerings. Previously the airline’s food and drinks are lackluster, with instant noodles being among the more exciting options available. With the updates, lounges have live booking stations, in partnership with the Grand Hyatt Incheon, with everything from popular Korean dishes, to international food. Furthermore, lounges are getting bakeries and patisseries, with fresh croissants, pizza, and desserts.
We’re also seeing a significant increase in lounge capacity. Korean Air’s total lounge capacity at Incheon will nearly double, from 898 passengers to 1,566 passengers. Furthermore, total lounge space will more than double, from 5,105 square meters (55,000 square feet) to 12,270 square meters (132,000 square feet).
The lounge renewal is part of the airline’s broader infrastructure investment ahead of full integration with Asiana Airlines, ensuring sufficient capacity and premium service for the combined passenger base. So, what’s the progress like with these refreshed lounges opening?
- In 2025, we saw the opening of the new Korean Air Prestige East Lounge, which is the first fully redesigned lounge (and it’s what’s pictured above), along with two new Korean Air Prestige Garden Lounges at the far ends of the terminal, following the airport’s expansion
- Now as of early 2026, we’ve seen the opening of the new Korean Air Prestige East (Left) Lounge, which I’ll talk about a bit below
- At some point in 2026, we will see the reopening of the updated Korean Air First Lounge and Korean Air Prestige West Lounge
- Outstation lounges are also being renovated, with the expectation being that the Los Angeles (LAX) and New York (JFK) lounges will both reopen at some point in 2026, with all-new designs
As mentioned above, we’ve just seen the opening of the Korean Air Prestige East (Left) Lounge, which spans 1,553 square meters (16,700 square feet), with seating for 192 guests. The lounge features a new experiential zone, including a Ramyeon Library (a self-service station allowing guests to customize their own instant noodles), a cooking studio (offering participation-based classes, such as chocolate bark making), and an arcade room.
I’m delighted to see Korean Air investing in its product
I’ve taken a couple of trips on Korean Air lately, and have published several reviews of both flights and lounges. I’ve called the airline second rate among its Asian peers, and have pointed out how little effort the airline seemingly puts into its premium passenger experience.
Some people think I was being harsh, and they’re of course entitled to feel that way, but I have nothing against the airline. The contrast between Korean Air and some of its rivals is just huge. And it’s not just in one area, but it’s across so many aspects of the experience.
With that in mind, I’m so happy to see that Korean Air seems serious about improving its passenger experience. There’s nothing that would delight me more than to fly with Korean Air in a year or two, and to give the airline a positive review based on improvements that have been made. There are few things I like more than a comeback story.
Heck, I think I’m vindicated, because Korean Air’s own executives have acknowledged that the airline is “behind,” and it’s something they “need to work on.” Last year we heard quite a bit from David Pacey, the carrier’s EVP of Inflight Services and Lounges, and I love what I’m hearing and reading.
He’s remarkably candid in assessing the current state of Korean Air’s product, and that makes me confident that he’ll lead the carrier’s passenger experience in the right direction. Of course that assumes he doesn’t get too much pushback from the CEO, and that the company is actually willing to make the necessary investments.
It’s interesting to me that he has a background in hospitality rather than in aviation. He has spent decades working in the hotel industry in Asia, and I think that’s a really valuable and fresh perspective to have, if you’re trying to make radical changes.
Bottom line
Korean Air is currently investing massively in its passenger experience, and there’s nowhere that’s more necessary than with lounges. The airline is completely overhauling its lounge network, including expanding lounge capacity at Incheon, and also renovating all facilities.
Several of these updated lounges have now opened, and the remaining lounges should open this year, including at Incheon and at outstations. We’re seeing updates not only to lounge aesthetics, but also to the soft product, including food and drinks. It’s impressive to think the airline is roughly doubling its lounge capacity at Incheon.
I’ve been critical of Korean Air because the airline just hasn’t been trying (at least by international standards), so it’s good to see that being addressed.
What do you make of Korean Air’s lounge changes?
Agree a makeover overdue.
People are being too harsh on ICN lounges. Design esthetic are subjective. As long as it's functional and not overrun.
They are catered from "blogger favorite" Hyatt.
Yes KE lounge outside ICN are terrible. But while ICN is not fancy, the food is not exciting but still solid.
The cup ramen is better only outside ICN.
That said. PP lounges ICN at does give KE run for their money.
If the quality of instant cup ramen is what you're touting as making the lounge "solid," you need to try literally almost ANY other lounge to see how poor Korean's lounges stack up. And if the Matina lounge at ICN is as good as the business class Korean lounge...really?
Step foot in Singapore's lounge in ICN. It already blew the doors off of Asiana's lounge, and that's OZ's home airport! And nobody will compare the PP lounges to Krisflyer's.
Funny enough I traveled through Korea to Thailand in November and did a bunch research on the lounge experience and what I should do with a long layover. I ended up doing a tour which is always my go-to but I was dreading the lounge because everywhere I looked said the lounge sucks and watch out for the noodles. I get there and got into the space pictured or a space like it and was...
Funny enough I traveled through Korea to Thailand in November and did a bunch research on the lounge experience and what I should do with a long layover. I ended up doing a tour which is always my go-to but I was dreading the lounge because everywhere I looked said the lounge sucks and watch out for the noodles. I get there and got into the space pictured or a space like it and was like whoa. Did we accidentally get admitted into the first class lounge? This is nothing like what I read. But while it wasn't great, it was way better than expected.
while all these updates are great, my Skypass miles are still worthless since not a single F seat can be found on any of the routes…
If you have a skypass account try getting on their waiting list which they allow you to do for award tickets. I had a business class (ATL-ICN) & first class (ICN-ATL) clear back in November/December as they wait til last minute to open up some business and first class seats. But it might not open until about three days before departure. So you have to be very flexible.
If you have a skypass account try getting on their waiting list which they allow you to do for award tickets. I had a business class (ATL-ICN) & first class (ICN-ATL) clear back in November/December as they wait til last minute to open up some business and first class seats. But it might not open until about three days before departure. So you have to be very flexible.
> I’ve called the airline second rate among its Asian peers.
Is Asiana better than Korean in premium cabin quality?
Absolutely not lol some of Asiana's planes look like they're from decades ago
Korean may be second rate, Asiana is/was probably slightly worse. But there are a LOT of Asian carriers that are notably better than both.
Korean Air is a bottom feeding VFR focused airline. They need to do alot more than revamp their lounges.
KE is no NH or JL.
Not sure if it has been reported here, but I believe KE is also expanding its LAX footprint by taking over the old unaligned LAX International Lounge for its first class lounge. If KE's new lounges are on par with their offerings at ICN, Skyteam is on track to have the best lounge profile at LAX (VS, AF, DL, KE).
The KE and OZ merger held a lot of stuff up, so all this (including the new branding and livery) is way overdue.
In any case KE is not going to fix my gripes with ICN, including Terminal 2
If the renovated lounge at LAX is part of Priority Pass it'll feel like 2016 all over again
I'm excited for whatever their (and other's) new lounges are going to be at the new JFK T1. While the existing KE lounge at the old T1 is fine, I'd expect something much more grand for the new one.
KE spent a long time waiting for Korean and all kinds of foreign government approvals which still have carved up many of the Asiana routes among a number of new carriers.
Still, ICN and KE are on track to grow to easily become the largest hub in Asia and take a growing share of TPAC traffic.
The growth of KE's hub at ICN as well as new routes from DL and KE will support the investment being done in the ground experience.
"... live booking stations,..."
You probably meant cooking stations.
As the Air France lounge at JFK is ho-hum, Korean Air might provide a good alternative. And, while the Air France lounge at LAX is a big step up from the one at JFK, Korean Air might provide a nice change of pace.
The miler club is also already renovated and has a great food selection including a meat carving station. It is used temporarily for F passengers, and they also give F passengers a little luxury gift from Baccarat or Christolfe for the ‘inconvenience’. Makes me smile every time because the ‘inconvenience’ (miler instead of first lounge) is leaps and bounds better than the old first lounge.
In my experience, the principal challenge with the KE lounges - including the newly-refreshed Prestige East - is that there's not enough capacity for the demand. Though don't get me wrong, the food upgrades are welcome.
I feel like Korean air put off a lot of these investments until they had full clarity on the Asiana deal. Partly because the acquisition cost probably swallowed up a large part of the budget and partly because it might have been difficult to award contracts for things such as lounge refurbs or cabin refits when they couldn't guarantee the scale of the work required. It's just pure speculation so I hope it makes sense