Korean Air has just quietly added a new long haul route, as the airline will be adding service to Newark, New Jersey. What’s interesting is just how competitive this market has become, but it’s logical in the context of what’s going on at the airline (thanks to S_LEE for flagging this).
Korean Air adds Seoul Incheon to Newark flights
As of May 22, 2027, Korean Air plans to launch daily nonstop flights between Seoul Incheon (ICN) and Newark. The flight will operate with the following schedule:
KE97 Seoul Incheon to Newark departing 10:00PM arriving 11:00PM
KE98 Newark to Seoul Incheon departing 1:00AM arriving 5:15AM (+1 day)
The 6,896-mile flight is blocked at 14hr to the United States, and 15hr15min to South Korea. Korean Air will use a Boeing 777-300ER for the route, featuring 277 seats, including eight first class seats, 42 business class seats, and 227 economy seats.
This technically marks a service resumption, as Korean Air last served Newark through September 2001, but then suspended flights after the 9/11 terror attacks, and never resumed the flights. This new service will complement Korean Air’s existing service to New York Kennedy (JFK), which typically operates twice daily.
On top of that, Korean Air’s destinations in the United States include Atlanta (ATL), Boston (BOS), Chicago (ORD), Dallas (DFW), Honolulu (HNL), Las Vegas (LAS), Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco (SFO), Seattle (SEA), and Washington Dulles (IAD).
Incheon to Newark is becoming a competitive market!
Interestingly, Korean Air faces quite a bit of competition in the market between Incheon and Newark. Going back several years, it’s a route that no airline served.
However, that has changed in recent times. In May 2023, South Korean budget carrier Air Premia launched service in the market using a Boeing 787. Then in September 2026, United Airlines launched flights in the market, also using a Boeing 787. Korean Air’s timing is very similar to Air Premia’s in both directions, which isn’t too surprising.
Some people might be surprised to see Korean Air adding flights to Newark in addition to existing service to Kennedy (with no plans to reduce that service), but this actually seems pretty straightforward to me.
Keep in mind that Korean Air and Asiana have merged, and in the coming weeks, the two airlines will even take on the same brand. Historically these carriers were huge competitors, so of course in some markets they’ll be reducing capacity. In other words, the combined Korean Air won’t have quite as many frequencies to places like Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco, as the two airlines did separately.
That of course opens up the opportunity to serve more new markets, and clearly Newark was identified as one of those opportunities. Also keep in mind that Korean Air operates as part of a transpacific joint venture with Delta, so the airlines can coordinate fares and schedules, and it’s all about the combined depth and breadth of service.
If you’re looking at this from a Manhattan centric perspective, you might be surprised that the airline is bothering to serve both airports. However, service to Newark goes way beyond that, and the idea is that this flight is useful for serving parts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, etc. Admittedly those flyers likely aren’t loyal to SkyTeam, but from a Korea point of sale perspective (especially with the number of people studying in the region), it makes sense.
Bottom line
As of May 2027, Korean Air will be launching daily flights from Seoul Incheon to Newark, complementing existing service to Kennedy. This means we’ll see three daily flights between Incheon and Newark on three different airlines… that’s quite the step up from the zero daily flights we saw several years back!
With Korean Air’s takeover of Asiana complete, it’s logical that the South Korean mega carrier would be looking at adding some new markets, given the increased connectivity and scale of the operation.
What do you make of Korean Air launching Newark flights?
Membership is free and takes no more information than commenting as a guest. Earn status points for good contributions, and see fewer ads as your status grows.