In late 2023, Korean Air announced plans to introduce premium economy. However, the airline sort of backtracked, because the plan was initially for this to debut on 787s as of 2024. The SkyTeam carrier now has a different plan, and it doesn’t involve the 787, so let’s cover the details…
In this post:
Korean Air’s plan to offer premium economy
Korean Air plans to introduce its new premium economy product as of late 2025. However, the rollout plans aren’t particularly ambitious:
- The airline plans to install premium economy on 11 of its 25 Boeing 777-300ERs
- The airline then plans to install premium economy on some Airbus A350-900s, though Korean Air is currently taking delivery of these planes without premium economy
- The airline plans to install premium economy on Boeing 777-9s, if/when they’re delivered
- Korean Air no longer plans to introduce premium economy on Boeing 787s, including the 787-10s currently being delivered
The expectation is that the new premium economy will debut on the reconfigured 777-300ERs, and it’s interesting to hear what the airline has planned:
- These 11 777-300ERs will also get the carrier’s new business class, which debuted on the 787-10
- When premium economy is installed on these planes, the first class cabin will be removed (which consists of eight seats, spread across two rows, in a 1-2-1 configuration)
Premium economy is somewhere between business class and economy in terms of comfort level. Seats are typically similar to what you might find in domestic first class within the United States, where you have more legroom, more seat width, more recline, and better service.
As of now, Korean Air hasn’t revealed any details about what we should expect from premium economy, so we don’t know what exactly these seats will be like, and what services will be offered.
While Korean Air hasn’t offered premium economy up until now, the airline has offered among the most generous economy seat pitch in the industry, with planes having 32-34″ of pitch. Hopefully the airline also offers an industry-leading premium economy product.
It’s interesting to see how Korean Air is introducing premium economy, but isn’t going all-in, and introducing it on all long haul planes. After all, it can be tricky to sell premium economy to passengers when it’s only available on part of a journey. You don’t want to book a long haul journey only to end up in premium economy on one segment.
Korean Air’s strategy seems a bit all over the place, if you ask me. For example, logically you’d think that the routes that have demand for first class would also have demand for premium economy (since they’re for markets where there’s more of a willingness to pay), so it’s odd that 777s will either have premium economy or first class, but not both.
Similarly, Korean Air plans to introduce a new first class and even expand its first class footprint in the long run, but for the time being, the airline will further reduce its first class footprint.
The varying takes on premium economy
It’s funny how airline industry executives have varying opinions on the merits of a premium economy cabin.
Among many, the common wisdom is that premium economy is the most efficient use of real estate on a plane, it represents the future, and it’s incredibly lucrative for airlines. But not all airline executives agree, or at a minimum, many airlines have hesitated to introduce this product.
Yes, a lot of airlines have added premium economy, and it has been the fastest growing cabin concept in the world. But it seems like it’s most popular across the Atlantic and Pacific, on airlines from North America, Europe, and select places in North and Southeast Asia.
At the same time, Etihad and Qatar Airways haven’t embraced premium economy, and Emirates only recently started rolling it out, years after other airlines. And then you have some airlines, like Turkish Airlines, which actually removed premium economy from their planes, as the economics weren’t working for them.
While I see merit to the value of premium economy, on the flights I’ve taken, I’ve generally notice that premium economy is almost always emptier than business class. On some flights business class will be full, while premium economy may only have a few people in it.
A majority of corporate travel contracts either allow travel in economy or business class, but most companies haven’t updated policies to allow for premium economy. So it’s heavily focused on leisure travelers who value a better experience, but aren’t necessarily willing to (or able to) splurge on business class. Admittedly that’s an increasingly large market, given the amount of premium leisure demand there is.
Bottom line
Korean Air will be introducing a premium economy cabin as of late 2025, with the product expected to debut on reconfigured 777-300ERs. Oddly, these planes will have first class removed at the same time that premium economy is installed, and then they’ll also get a new business class product. We should learn more details of exactly what to expect in the coming months…
What do you make of Korean Air introducing premium economy?
Since we're talking about product, I wonder what their plans are for the combined carrier's A330s. Will they stick around long-term or...? It just doesn't make sense to have your hard product all over the place. You can either refurbish them for a unified product or simply get rid of them in lieu of the 787s.
"It just doesn't make sense to have your hard product all over the place. You can either refurbish them for a unified product"
Huh? A unified product is the rare exception, not the norm.
Singapore pulls it off, with their regional fleet have 1 unified product, and their longhaul fleet having another (severely outdated) one. But that's about it. Even most of their competitors in the east/southeast Asian region do not have a single...
"It just doesn't make sense to have your hard product all over the place. You can either refurbish them for a unified product"
Huh? A unified product is the rare exception, not the norm.
Singapore pulls it off, with their regional fleet have 1 unified product, and their longhaul fleet having another (severely outdated) one. But that's about it. Even most of their competitors in the east/southeast Asian region do not have a single unified product for that market segment. Nor do the Japanese nor Chinese for their domestic/regional widebodies. To say nothing of the US and European carriers.
Korean Air intends to fly those 11 777-300ERs as a high-density option for intra-Asia market, especially flights to/from Southeast Asia which takes 5+ hours. It'll have no first class and the EC will be reconfigured to 3-4-3 abreast.
And the reason why they're introducing premium economy to this fleet is because of the JV with Delta. Delta PE passengers connecting through ICN to Southeast Asia had to fly EC in KE leg. Delta wants...
Korean Air intends to fly those 11 777-300ERs as a high-density option for intra-Asia market, especially flights to/from Southeast Asia which takes 5+ hours. It'll have no first class and the EC will be reconfigured to 3-4-3 abreast.
And the reason why they're introducing premium economy to this fleet is because of the JV with Delta. Delta PE passengers connecting through ICN to Southeast Asia had to fly EC in KE leg. Delta wants its JV partner offer the same class of experience for PE passengers, so they're adding it to their intra-Asia fleet first.
I guess I was right on what I've said below; the remaining 11 77Ws will replace the 4 773As as there's nothing in the market to fill that niche. That's probably what CX does down the line.
Will it have the same Prestige Suites 2.0 with or without premium economy?
KE currently has 25 77Ws. 11 of them will be reconfigured without FC and with new BC(Collins Horizon aka Prestige Suite 2.0), PE and 3-4-3 EC.
The remaining 14 will mostly keep the current seats(FC, BC, EC) but they're likely to be reconfigured to have PEs by removing some EC seats.
The 11 non-FC high-density 77Ws will replace the non-ER 773s as you said, and the remaining 14 77Ws will be the main long-haul fleet.
Source for going 3-4-3? I looked through various Korean websites but couldn’t find yet. Disappointing news but not surprising
This makes a ton of sense. About time DL puts some effort into getting its pacific JV to a better quality. Perhaps Koreans don’t value PE (as seen in other parts of the world) but many delta passengers connecting through ICN will likely appreciate it.
Whoa KE is going 3-4-3 on 777?
That IS BIG NEWS!!!!!
While I personally would care less about DL-KE experience until you can actually use GUC on KE with DL marketed same fare.
Nor do I have high expectations from KE.
On the up side, but not anymore, KE used to allow elites to sit in F seats intra Asia when they don't have F service.
Now they're selling them.
While big news, you'll have the A350 and 779 which the latter would be a bit more comfortable than your typical 777. It was inevitable if you'll be relying on low-yield traffic from Manila, Cebu and Saigon. Eventually, even SQ will be going 10ab on the 779. I'm not sure what Thai plans to do with their fleet as they seem to be all over the place too.
Pitch is still one of the best...
While big news, you'll have the A350 and 779 which the latter would be a bit more comfortable than your typical 777. It was inevitable if you'll be relying on low-yield traffic from Manila, Cebu and Saigon. Eventually, even SQ will be going 10ab on the 779. I'm not sure what Thai plans to do with their fleet as they seem to be all over the place too.
Pitch is still one of the best in the industry with 33-34". Only Philippine Airlines, JAL, and ANA have comparable pitch IIRC.
KE has 11 777-300ER with suites with doors in F and apex suites in J. These will not be retrofitted just yet (I presume they will be retrofitted as part of the 2028 new F rollout).
The 14 777-300ER that will be retrofitted however have the old F (same as A380) and 2-3-2 recliners in J and are in dire need of an upgrade.
The remaining 11 with F need to be kept around...
KE has 11 777-300ER with suites with doors in F and apex suites in J. These will not be retrofitted just yet (I presume they will be retrofitted as part of the 2028 new F rollout).
The 14 777-300ER that will be retrofitted however have the old F (same as A380) and 2-3-2 recliners in J and are in dire need of an upgrade.
The remaining 11 with F need to be kept around as the 777X is delayed and they wouldn’t have enough capacity without them.
The 787-10 will be kept for Asia where demand for premium economy is lesser due to shorter sectors. Premium markets such as SIN will get longhaul aircraft rotated through to have both F and premium economy for people connecting from the US/DL.
@ Bill M -- I don't have any inside knowledge, but given that 11 planes are expected to be reconfigured, doesn't it seem more likely that the long haul jets with the first class suites would be reconfigured? I agree it's illogical, but those are also the planes operating the longest routes, where you'd expect there to be the most demand for premium economy.
I think your information is flipped. Out of 25, 11 older ones (delivered 2009-2013) have 2-3-2 full flat J, not recliner but no direct aisle access (same as A380) and I guess these will be retrofitted this time.
14 newer ones (2015-19) have 2-2-2 full flat direct aisle access apex suites J. Maybe these won't be retrofitted for the time being.
Well IIRC, you didn't think its FC was any good and not competitive with other carriers. So perhaps they read your review and agree with you to eliminate FC.
@ Justin Dev -- Hah, well, except the airline has acknowledged that its first class needs to be improved, and the airline plans to invest in that. But in the meantime, it seems like the first class footprint will be reduced...
Is there a stock that I can short? This plan makes no sense.
No, Matt, most airlines are going for premium economy and getting rid of First. Just look at US airlines to see that. Korean is behind most of the others in that regard.
I would be interested in more detail on the economics of premium economy for airlines. They must feel it represents for most customers an attractive upsell from regular economy class, not a budget-minded downgrade from business class. But has that proposition been tested in a weak economy when corporations are cutting back on travel budgets?
The airlines obviously have the data, and that represents quite a nice lab experiment on how price-elastic demand is for...
I would be interested in more detail on the economics of premium economy for airlines. They must feel it represents for most customers an attractive upsell from regular economy class, not a budget-minded downgrade from business class. But has that proposition been tested in a weak economy when corporations are cutting back on travel budgets?
The airlines obviously have the data, and that represents quite a nice lab experiment on how price-elastic demand is for business and leisure travelers.
In a strong economy we see that demand loses elasticity—hence routine 10K business fares in many markets—but in a weak economy I imagine PE is cutting into business class demand and fares.
KE is making a lot of changes in a fairly short time; OZ merger approval took a long time and they now have a backlog of things they need to do. They can only do so much so fast. The aircraft that are on order have to be taken as they were ordered given how long it takes to get new seats onto aircraft.
I would strongly bet that premium economy will end up on...
KE is making a lot of changes in a fairly short time; OZ merger approval took a long time and they now have a backlog of things they need to do. They can only do so much so fast. The aircraft that are on order have to be taken as they were ordered given how long it takes to get new seats onto aircraft.
I would strongly bet that premium economy will end up on transpacific routes to the greatest extent possible. JV partner and KE part owner DL has undoubtedly fed KE lots of information about the value of premium economy and wants to see a more consistent product.
I hope they don't get rid of some of the excess coach legroom in coach but that is a very real possibility in order to add PE.
I think it's an old stereotype that companies haven't updated their policy for premium economy - the cabin has been around for 20+ years globally and nearly 10 years in the US. I know a lot of companies that have travel policies that allow for PEY but not J.
@ Andrew M -- You're absolutely right that some companies have updated their corporate travel policies, but a lot also haven't. I don't think there's any data on this, but my perception is that a lot more companies allow either economy or business class, with premium economy not being part of the equation. I could be wrong, though!
Yeah anecdotally, my experience aligns with Ben's thought. My first company allowed anyone to fly business if the flight time was >8 hrs, my currently company only lets Sr. Manager level and above fly business, again with the line being 8 hrs or more. No mention of PE in either policy. Kinda bogus IMO but IIWII, I don't fly overseas often enough in my job for that negative to outweigh the positives of the company
If they only plan to reconfigure 11 out of the 25 77Ws, what happens to the remaining 14? I would think it would be an ideal subfleet to replace the 4 773As as they could use the capacity.
@ Mike O. -- That's a great question, and sadly I have no insights there. I find this whole plan to be quite strange.