Looking At Korean Air’s New Business Class Cabin

Korean Air has launched its brand new Prestige Suites 2.0, its new business class product, fairly quietly. The new seats will feature on the carrier’s new Boeing 787-10 aircraft, which will debut early next week on flights to Japan.

Rather than announcing the new hard product, the carrier subtly added them to its website under its Boeing 787-10 information page.

Korean Air

IATA/ICAO Code

KE/KAL

Year Founded

1969

CEO

Walter Cho

Expand

What is in the new Prestige Suite 2.0?

First and foremost, the seats themselves feature a pitch of 46 inches. They are 21 inches in width and can recline 180 degrees. They can be transformed, therefore, into a full beg, totaling between 78.2 and 79.2 inches in length. Each seat comes with a USB port for charging, a personal monitor (23.8 inches in size) and in-flight entertainment on said device.

More broadly, the aircraft itself has in-flight, and 52-inch dividers in the business class cabin provide added privacy. They can be lowered into a so-called “Honeymoon” mode whereby the two seats are essentially next to each other once lowered. Every seat has direct aisle access, with the cabin set in a 1-2-1 layout. In other words, to take advantage of the “honeymoon” layout, you must select seats in the middle of the plane.

Bye to blue

As picked up by Hankyung, Korean Air’s new business class product does not feature the airline’s iconic and symbolic blue for its interior. Its current product, as shown below, features bright turquoise-blue seats and bedding that “it has used for 20 years,” the report reads.

Photo: Korean Air

This marks an important change, therefore. It also coincides and is possibly linked to the carrier’s merger with rival Asiana Airlines. The two airlines operate giant fleets, and their merger will serve to reinforce their position in the market.

It is also worth noting that the airline has not just stripped the business cabin of its blue in its 787-10 fleet. In fact, the economy class also features what it describes as a “stylish design” on the new seats, absent of the iconic light blue. Darker colors dominate in the 787-10, which, while sleek, signify new times for the Korean national airline.

Related

Korean Air & Asiana Merger: What’s The Latest?

Four routes to Europe and its cargo unit are expected to be sold, paving the way for the European Unions antitrust approval.

Where will we see Prestige 2.0 and the 787-10?

The carrier ordered 20 of the type in 2019. According to ch-aviation data, the first two are registered HL8515 and HL8537 and are slated to be delivered this month. A third, registered HL8536, is expected in August.

HL8515 was ferried to Seoul on July 19 in advance of its entry into service next Tuesday. According to Executive Traveller, the 787-10 will begin operations to Tokyo on July 23. The 787-10s have 36 business class seats.

Photo: Korean Air

Prestige Suites 2.0 will also feature on the carrier’s refurbished Boeing 777-300ER fleet as it steps further away from first class. The carrier has previously indicated its intention to ditch first class completely on the 777 widebodies in favor of larger business class cabins. It currently offers eight first class seats on each of its 25 Boeing 777s.