Korean Air B777-200 Economy

I flew economy on KE from Incheon to Hong Kong yesterday, and was pleasantly surprised how much effort the airline has put in to make the back end of the plane more comfortable. I recently also flew economy on VA and MH, and I have to say the seat on KE feels the roomiest. They had beef bulgogi (Korean barbecue) as one of the meal choices and it was delectable. They even had smoked salmon in the salad – which is rare for economy class meals. The Cono Sur merlot was also decent.

But it was really the small details that made it stand out. They had Jurlique lotion and dental kits (and individual packages of mouthwash) in the bathroom – amenities usually reserved for premium cabins. Because I flew from the Middle East to make the connection, and had to do it very quickly, it was good to have a chance to freshen up.

Then I found stickers in the magazine pocket for passengers to put on the head rest to indicate whether they want to be woken up for duty free/meals, or left alone. The service was graceful, and disembarkation was smooth and orderly.

But the most impressive of all was how they handled my delayed luggage. My EY flight from the Middle East was held up for two hours, leaving me with just 45 minutes to make the connection at ICN. I just made it, but my suitcase didn’t. After I arrived in Hong Kong, I was told that KE had put my bag onto a CX flight that departed one and a half hours later. They even picked up the bill to deliver the suitcase to my house, even though it was not their fault that my bag was delayed.

I have always liked KE – and their inflight bibimbab – and my experience yesterday has made me like them even more.

‘The service was graceful’

I could not agree more tallhkboy. I flew KE Narita-Incheon and Gimpo-Haneda in Economy and I found the service to be on a par with SQ and CX, if not better.