While details are limited as of now, another airline intends to introduce premium economy in the near future…
In this post:
Korean Air will offer premium economy cabin
Danny Lee reports on how Korean Air CEO Walter Cho has revealed that Korean Air plans to introduce premium economy as of 2024. The plan is for the Boeing 787-10 to be the first aircraft to get this new cabin.
The 787-10 will also be the first aircraft to get Korean Air’s new business class. That was expected to be introduced as of late 2023, so it’s not clear if that is just delayed significantly, and Korean Air will introduce its new business class and premium economy at the same time, or if the airline will reconfigure its planes shortly after they enter service. The former definitely seems more logical than the latter.
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 how many planes will get the cabins, with what timeline, and what the product will be like. This development comes as Korean Air is continuing to pursue a merger with Asiana, which has been seriously delayed due to regulatory approval.
While Korean Air has never 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, much like what Japan Airlines plans to offer on its Airbus A350-1000s.
While all new product rollouts are challenging, introducing premium economy is particularly complicated. Typically product rollouts take years, and it can be tough to sell premium economy when it’s only available on a portion of someone’s journey. I think that’s a reason that many airlines hesitate to introduce it.
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 airlines 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 introducing it, 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 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.
Bottom line
Korean Air will be introducing a premium economy cabin as of 2024, with the plan to first roll this out on Boeing 787-10s (which will also feature the new business class). This will mark the first time that one of the two big Korean carriers offers a premium economy cabin, so that’s quite noteworthy.
I’m looking forward to learning more details about what we can expect.
What do you make of Korean Air introducing premium economy?
I didn't know that TK had removed Premium - interesting!
Another challenge I have found with Premium is that on Skyscanner, I can often find cheaper Business class fares.
I guess they will reconfigure the planes at the same time for both their business seats and premium economy. That probably gives them a cost savings. I guess some airlines waited until there is enough data on premium economy to see if it makes it worth the investment and I guess it is much more profitable for the airline than economy. Given they have a decent economy product I wonder what the benefits of premium economy will be.
Pretty incredible that OVER 30 YEARS after Virgin Atlantic first introduced Premium Economy, some major global airlines are still only adding it now in 2023-2024 long after it's been proven one of the most profitable and popular options.
Premium Economy was first introduced by Eva Air in 1911.
1991*
Moishe is telling a lie here, which disturbed some of my people, and others, but not me. I have confidence that he will keep his redact his false statement, I also smiled when he called Swampman Eskimo a low IQ individual, & worse. Perhaps that’s sending me a signal?
It's coming in 2024? To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the nut rage incident? Then again chaebols probably do not know the existence of peasant class lmao.
Traveling solo, the difference between PE and Economy is meh.
Traveling with Mrs. Doubt, when we can get 2 seats by ourselves on the window in PE, it's worth it.
On a long or ultra-long haul flights, those extra inches of width and pitch aren't really "meh" for most people. And it shows: Premium Y is usually full, from what I can see, as well as being highly profitable for the airlines. If getting 2 seats to yourselves is the only bonus you don't need to upgrade for that, you can easily get that by flying on pretty much any A330 or 767 in the world or the last few rows on a 777 or 787.
I took multiple flights of BA, AA, AF, CX, and ANA. The cabins were always full. To me, premium economy works perfectly for both my corporate and family travel. I do not have enough budget on business class but the price tag of premium economy fits well. Same, if it is family travel, I cannot afford to put all my families in business class either. Lacking premium economy option is a main reason I avoid...
I took multiple flights of BA, AA, AF, CX, and ANA. The cabins were always full. To me, premium economy works perfectly for both my corporate and family travel. I do not have enough budget on business class but the price tag of premium economy fits well. Same, if it is family travel, I cannot afford to put all my families in business class either. Lacking premium economy option is a main reason I avoid Emirates, Qatar, and Turkish. I am based at LAX, I do not want to get 14-16 hours flight in economy. When I choose flights, I prefer the routes offering premium economy. I just got back from Chile and I chose AA instead of LATAM because AA has the premium economy option.
In premium economy, I can gain a good sleep from the comfortable seat even it is not full flat. The dedicate cabin is usually quieter and has less movement than economy cabin. I am very satisfied with all the premium economy products I have experienced and believe it suits well with some passengers who cannot afford business class but would like to pay for a better product than economy seats.
I suspect partial owner Delta strongly suggested that Korean think about a premium economy product and KE has been shown the revenue performance of DL's Premium Select on its S. Korea routes.
I wouldn't be surprised if KE tightens up pitch in economy in order to put enough total seats on their aircraft w/ premium economy. The787-10 for both KLM and United seats about 320 passengers w/ premium economy and a reasonably large business...
I suspect partial owner Delta strongly suggested that Korean think about a premium economy product and KE has been shown the revenue performance of DL's Premium Select on its S. Korea routes.
I wouldn't be surprised if KE tightens up pitch in economy in order to put enough total seats on their aircraft w/ premium economy. The787-10 for both KLM and United seats about 320 passengers w/ premium economy and a reasonably large business class cabin. and the 787-10 is not going to be heavily used across the Pacific but will provide a lot of connecting capacity within Asia.
Their Economy is already generous @ 33-34", so it'll be interesting to see the seat they choose, as well as the amount of seats. The two main things you get with Premium Economy would be a bigger seat and legroom as well as a dedicated cabin if configured as such. Thai should follow suit with Premium Economy. They would really benefit with all the holidaymakers into Thailand especially from EU and OZ.
My experience unlike yours has always seen premium economy full on all the airlines I have travelled on in the last 5 years or so globally.
Agreed. That's been my experience as well. And then op-ups from PY to J.
Me too. It's almost always full when I see it on various airlines, so I'm surprised to hear him say that he often sees Premium Economy not very full.
Although I do agree there doesn't seem to be universal love. Although most seem to agree that it's a profit maker, EVA Airways, one of the Premium Economy originals, who have an amazing 777 Premium Y, chose not to add it for their 787 Dreamliners.
EVA air is retrofitting their B787 with PE cabin from next year, 2024
Partly because people are looking at the difference in price between business and premium economy and may choose it if it is good enough but would never sit in economy.
Korean Air reduced the economy pitch to 32 inches on the 787-9 aircraft delivered last month. I'm sure they'll reduce the economy pitch on their other aircraft as they introduce premium economy.
That's what I was fearing with this announcement
Years ago, a colleague flew LH premium economy on the 747. I asked him how it was, and he responded, "It was definitely more 'economy' than 'premium.'" I certainly agree based on my experiences with most airline premium economy products.
On airline where Premium Economy always seems fairly full is BA on transatlantic flights… they also have been increasing the cabin size with some of their new planes / retrofits.
The first airline to bring back First Class, Business Class and Economy Class will be the winner. This Economy, Economy Plus, Economy Premium shit is a bunch of CRAP.
Is the profit margin not higher on first Class than 16 different types of economy (ask Japan airlines - yes, SIXTEEN!)
Back to F, J and Y? What is this, 1989? Premium Economy is an easy and highly profitable option and ancillary profit maker for people who can spend maybe a few hundred more but not the literal thousands of dollars that J and F cost. Airlines aren't adding Premium Economy and continuing to retrofit aircraft to add it (while at the same time many of them remove First Class) because it's "crap". They probably have...
Back to F, J and Y? What is this, 1989? Premium Economy is an easy and highly profitable option and ancillary profit maker for people who can spend maybe a few hundred more but not the literal thousands of dollars that J and F cost. Airlines aren't adding Premium Economy and continuing to retrofit aircraft to add it (while at the same time many of them remove First Class) because it's "crap". They probably have greater access to the numbers than you, with all due respect.