Summary
- Korean Air’s 787-10 will serve key routes to the US, Canada & Asia this winter.
- Its new Prestige business class on the 787-10 offers lie-flat seats & a modern design.
- It has some competition on its North American routes but thanks to codeshare agreements and the deployment of its 787-10, it has a bit of an advantage.
Korean Air
has scheduled its long-awaited first long-haul flights with its Boeing 787-10 aircraft. This includes flights to the United States and Canada, key markets for connecting traffic and overall demand. Korean Air will, therefore, leverage its modern plane, which features its brand-new Prestige business class cabin, on important services.
Korean Air
- IATA/ICAO Code
-
KE/KAL
- Year Founded
-
1969
- CEO
-
Walter Cho
This winter: United States, Canada and Asia
As of this upcoming winter season, Korean Air will be deploying its 787-10 on flights to Bangkok (Thailand) and Denpasar (Indonesia) in Asia. Flights to the United States will include Honolulu and Seattle, while flights to Canada will comprise a single destination, Vancouver. According to AeroRoutes and the carrier’s booking system, service launch and details on the 787-10 in order is as follows:
- Bangkok: as of October 27, once a day, with a varying operational flight number. The carrier’s website indicates the 787-10 deployed generally on an evening flight. This is not the first time it has flown its 787-10 to Bangkok.
- Vancouver: as of October 27, 787-10 replaces the majority of flights (KE071/072) with some 787-9 operation remaining for KE075/076)
- Denpasar: as of October 27, 787-10 replaces all KE’s flights per its booking system.
- Honolulu: as of December 1, operates daily replacing all KE flights
- Seattle: as of January 1, 787-10 takes over the daily operation
Looking at North America, Korean Air has competition on all three of the routes meaning the 787-10 will help it get a leg up over other airlines in terms of product offering. On the
Seoul Incheon
(ICN) to
Vancouver International Airport
(YVR) flight, Air Canada uses a Boeing 787-9 and has planned 30 flights (hence operating daily) in November according to Cirium.
Photo: Ross Howey Photo | Shutterstock
Flights to Seattle see competition from
Delta Air Lines
(DL) and
Asiana Airlines
(OZ). That being said, DL and KE are already codeshare partners. Meanwhile, Korean Air and OZ are merging, a move that was given the green light by the European Commission in February. The service to Honolulu has competition from
Hawaiian Airlines
as well as KE and OZ. Hawaiian has scheduled its A330-200s to operate on the sector in December 2024.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
New business class
As reported by Simple Flying in late July, Korean Air quietly unveiled its new Prestige Suites 2.0 onboard its Boeing 787-10, first inaugurated when its first example entered-into-service on the Seoul to Tokyo flight.
With a seat pitch of 46 inches, transformable into a full lie-flat bed, and featuring individual USB ports, the new deep-colored brown and gold seats will serve the upgrade the airline’s existing inconsistent business class.
The carrier’s existing business class product features an iconic turquoise-blue color, perhaps outdated given the industry’s continued shift towards darker, more simplistic, and streamlined colors. The new “stylish design” of its seats does not contain any light blue.
Aircraft Interiors International reports that the flag carrier plans to deploy the 787-10 on “key high-demand trunk routes,” backed up by its use on flights to North America this coming winter. Aside from western USA, on its list of important regions is Europe meaning we could soon see the 787-10 regularly deployed there too.