The South Korean flag carrier is set to debut the Airbus A350-900 on Monday. Where will Korean Air fly the aircraft type, and what onboard features make the aircraft unique?
Photo: Korean Air
A350 to Japan
On Monday January 27, Korean Air will begin services with two of its brand-new A350-900 aircraft from the airline’s Seoul
Incheon hub to the Japanese cities of Osaka
and Fukuoka
. One A350 will operate Seoul to Osaka twice daily while the other will operate to Fukuoka once daily.
At the end of December 2024, the South Korean flag carrier received its first two of six Airbus A350-900’s
from Toulouse-based Airbus
as part of a larger order for 27 Airbus A350-1000’s
. Despite initial deployment on short-haul routes, the aircraft type is set to bolster Korean Air’s reputation in the long-haul market later this year.
From March, the A350-900 is set to be rolled out on medium to long-haul routes such as Seoul to Taipei. Towards the latter half of 2025 (Q3 and Q4), passengers can expect to see the aircraft beginning to operate popular long-haul routes to European cities such as Rome, Madrid, and Prague.
Strategic investment for the environment and customer satisfaction
The Airbus A350-900 and its larger cousin – the A350-1000 – are set to play a significant role in the future of Korean Air’s long-haul market, offering a significant improvement in onboard products as compared to the carrier’s older Boeing 777-200ER
and Boeing 777-300ER
aircraft types.
The awesome efficiency of the A350 and its Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines gives the aircraft a leg up over the airline’s high capacity, but fuel-inefficient fleet of Boeing 747-8i’s
while offering a similar range of 12,000 kilometers (around 7,500 miles). This allows the aircraft to be operated on any route within the Korean Air network without a compromise in efficiency.
This efficiency, combined with high demand, is why the aircraft is initially being deployed on two short-haul routes.
In recent months, Korean Air has been experiencing a surge in passenger demand amid the carrier’s complete merger with Asiana Airlines in December 2024. New aircraft deliveries of the Boeing 787-9
and Airbus A321neo
have been aiding in the alleviation of this pressure, with the A350 only the latest aircraft to aid the South Korean flag carrier in its massive growth.
Korean Air’s A350-900 aircraft can accommodate 311 passengers across a two-class configuration, with 28 Prestige Class seats – the carrier’s equivalent to business class – and 283 Economy class seats. Prestige Class is laid out in a 1-2-1 configuration, and offers aisle access to all seats and a heightened sense of privacy with dividers, allowing passengers to stretch out and relax while they sleep in seats that can extend up to 70 inches in bed mode.
On the other hand, economy class is laid out in the typical 3-3-3 configuration with “…ergonomic seats designed to maximize personal space…” With legroom of 32 to 33 inches, this is slightly less than the legroom offered on the carrier’s fleet of 44 Boeing 777-200ER and -300ER aircraft. However, seat width remains consistent across the entire Korean Air long-haul fleet at 18 inches.
Photo: Thiago B Trevisan | Shutterstock
Both classes onboard the A350 are equipped with the standard Panasonic eX3 entertainment system, with larger 18.5-inch displays in Prestige Class.
Pulling out all the stops
In the press release announcing the introduction of the aircraft into its fleet, Korean Air explained the process pilots had to go through for them to operate the novel aircraft type.
“…[The carrier] has assembled a dedicated team of experienced pilots for A350 operations, selecting veterans with extensive experience across various Airbus aircraft. Flight crews completed six months of intensive training at the Airbus Asia Training Center in Singapore, including instructor qualification programs to establish in-house training capabilities…”
Even though the airline has just started receiving the aircraft type, Korean Air is already on top of most aspects of its A350 operations, with the carrier having A350 maintenance teams complete “three EASA approved type training courses…” In the coming months, Korean Air is set to establish a special maintenance training program for its growing fleet of A350-900s and soon-to-be-delivered A350-1000s.
