Korean Air

HKG-ICN A380 ICN-FRA B777. First time flying Korea Air and I was impressed. Cabin crew smartly dressed friendly and efficient nothing was too much trouble. Cabins spacious and airy and spotlessly clean. Upgraded along with my partner to the Kosmo suites from Prestige class on FRA-ICN return sector although still prestige class service. I would suggest Korean Air include noise cancelling headsets for their Prestige Class and more AVOD choices for longer haul flights.

I flew to Saigon via Incheon. I asked for an exit aisle seat and got it with plenty of room. They fed us 5 times on the 14 hour flight to Incheon and 3 times on the flight to Saigon. Whenever I wanted a beer I got one and free of charge. Same for the return journey. The staff were very friendly and efficient.

NRT-ICN-DPS-SIN-ICN-NRT in Business class. Besides the fact the AVOD does not have an extensive list of choices for such long flights I cannot fault Korean Air. The flight attendants were well dressed smiling and spoke English well. The vegetarian special meals were inventive. I was lucky enough to fly the A380 between NRT and ICN and it is a joy. There is a full bar in the back and a mini one up front. The seats on the A380 are completely lie flat and very comfortable for sleeping if not a bit hard. The A380 is also extremely quiet. The lounge in Icheon was a bit overcrowded but it is the summer travel season.

SGN-IAD and return transferring at ICN both times. Hard working and well turned out staff. Spotless 777s. The terminal in Seoul is comfortable and affords easy transfer. Lots of leg room for average sized Western male. AVOD and catering more than adequate. Excellent value for money.

SYD-ICN-LHR-ICH-SYD. Ground staff and cabin crew were very helpful and friendly. Stopover in Seoul well organised with high quality food and accommodation at the Hyatt Incheon 5 mins from the airport. We flew on 747 and 777 200 both clean modern interior and spacious although the bulky inflight shopping magazines etc limited leg room. AVOD was functional on all legs though the small selection of movies and TV shows was definitely exhausted by the end of the last leg back into SYD. Value for money I could not fault Korean Air and would certainly recommend this airline.

I will not fly with them again (have done so twice in last 6 months) until they let some daylight into the cabin! I hate the way they close all the blinds and turn off lights basically straight after takeoff - even when I boarding at 7am in Auckland they rush your food out and then slam the whole show into darkness. You spend two days in the dark when flying with them from London to Auckland/Auckland London each time. I know they think it calms the passengers and gives the cabin crew less work if we are all in the dark but I am fed up with it. Everything else was great but until they let us see some daylight when flying I will not fly with them again even if they are the best price. I am sure that being shut up in the dark for so long on their flights contributes to jet lag on arrival.

Auckland via Seoul to Fukuoka. Flight leaving Auckland was delayed by about an hour which meant we missed our connecting flight to Fukuoka. However Korean Air put us up in a 5 star hotel in Seoul with Dinner and Breakfast. 7B47-400 Auckland to Seoul was spacious but slightly old. IFE system good but had no-where near the range of Emirates. Korean Air still give all children toys for the flight and economy class passengers a small toiletry bag. Flight attendant uniform very nice. Service onboard very polite and helpful. Found cabin staff presence through-out long haul flight quite low however - but when I pressed the call button an attendant would be there happily within a minute. Seat legroom good on both legs particularly for a short flight between Korea and Japan. A330 IFE much better than the 747 IFE. Meal between Seoul and Fukuoka was great but rather ambitious for such a short flight making the cabin crew on that leg very rushed. Only bad parts of this leg where the lack of cabin presence by attendants. Incheon airport very nice although Iprefer Hong Kong over Incheon. Biggest flaw with Korean Air is the terribly poor level of English spoken. I could understand if there was a low level of English between Fukuoka and Incheon. But between Auckland and Seoul I would expect to have at least one attendant fluent in English. But they often couldn't understand what I was saying which made organising what we had to do due to our late flight on the way over difficult with the flight attendants.

ICN-IAD Economy class. Ground service at Incheon was excellent. Everything was fast and smooth and it only took 10-15 mins for me to check-in clear security and pass immigration. FA's were very friendly and had smiles all the way to Washington DC. I enjoyed the hospitality throughout the flight. Inflight entertainment was very good quality. AVOD offered recent Hollywood box office movies TV comedy programmes and numerous other entertainment. Meal was excellent. Bibimbop was delicious pizza was offered as a snack. Sufficient leg room very clean loo. Korean Air even offers an amenity pack for Economy Class passengers.

SYD-ICH-LON (return). Cabin crew food inflight entertainment overall service and experience all of a very high standard. In addition it was a child-friendly service. The SYD-ICH-LON leg comes with a stopover in Seoul as part of the ticket price. This was great (even if the queuing at Icheon Seoul airport was a bit onerous) and we arrived in London very refreshed. The return LON-ICH-SYD was hard work. Both legs are overnight flights with a 5hr wait at Icheon airport. It could be worth a stopover - particularly if travelling with a child. Overall based on my experience I would definitely recommend Korean Air.

ICN-PVG roundtrip in Y. Newly refurbished A330 is great. Big LCD touch screen wide and comfortable seats and great pitch. The plane is as good as new. Flight attendants were well groomed with fancy uniform. However they were more interested in grooming and selling duty free items than actually serving passengers. Meals were mediocre at best they were rushed to the passengers followed by quick collection to open up for the duty free sales. Great hardware but no human touch.