Korean carrier Asiana Airlines will be deploying its newest aircraft, the Airbus A350, on its flights to Los Angeles in April this year, along with increasing the frequency of flights on its Chicago and Honolulu services to once per day.
The A350 will take over Asiana’s four-times-weekly OZ203/OZ204 flights between Seoul and Los Angeles from April 30, 2018 onwards, replacing the A380-800 superjumbo that currently operates the flights.
Fans of the A380 can, however, take solace in the fact that Asiana’s OZ201/OZ202 flights will continue to be flown by the double-decker aircraft beyond April 30.
As previously reported by Business Traveller, the carrier’s daily Seattle flight, OZ271/OZ272 will shift from a Boeing 777-200ER flight to an A350 flight from July 31 onwards.
The A350 is Asiana’s newest aircraft and features three classes, including its new Economy Smartium travel class, which debuted on the A350. The aircraft is outfitted with 28 Business Smartium seats, which recline to a fully flat 77-inch-long bed with a width of 22 inches, laid out in a 1-2-1 configuration.
Both Economy Smartium and economy are laid out 3-3-3 and feature the same seat product, however Economy Smartium is has two to three inches more pitch (36 inches). Travellers in this class also get priority boarding, business class lounge access at Incheon International Airport, and in-flight amenities.
The shift from an A380 to an A350 also means passengers won’t be able to book first class seats on Asiana’s OZ201/OZ202 flights (the A380 has 12 First Suites).
Also seeing a change this year are Asiana’s Honolulu and Chicago services, which will increase to once per day from March 25 and April 30, respectively. Both of these services are operated by the airline’s B777-300ER aircraft.
In March last year, Asiana expanded its codeshare agreement with United Airlines to include its flights between Seoul and Chicago as well as 16 of United’s routes from Chicago to domestic destinations, notably Pittsburgh and Boston.
