From July 1st, Korean Air travelers on the Seoul to Phnom Penh route will be among the airlines first on its new Airbus A321neo narrowbody. One of the airline’s Airbus A330-300 aircraft currently operates the daily service.
A narrowbody with lie-flat seats
The A321neo is a new type to Korean Air and is the airline’s first narrowbody featuring fully lie-flat seats, which will be in the Prestige Class cabin. The full-service carrier is the first Asian airline to feature the Airbus Airspace cabin on an A321neo.
Photo: Korean Air
Korean Air flight KE689 departs Seoul Incheon Airport (ICN) daily at 18:40 and arrives in Cambodia at Phnom Penh International Airport (PNH) at 22:10. The return flight leaves the following morning at 00:15 and lands in Seoul at 07:30.
The Airbus A321neo is configured in a two-class layout of 182 seats, including eight Prestige Class fully-lie flat seats and 174 seats in the economy cabin. Prestige Class passengers enjoy a 44-centimeter (17-inch) personal monitor for audio/video on-demand services and an in-seat wireless smartphone charger.
Economy passengers have a 33-centimeter (13-inch) monitor, while all passengers can access Bluetooth pairing to the AV system. Korean Air General Manager – Cambodia Jaewon Jung said the airline is excited to deploy its new aircraft type on the Phnom Penh route.
“Deploying the new A321neo on flights to Phnom Penh is in line with our strategy of offering the best premium service offering.
“Offering fully-lie flat seats in Prestige Class onboard our new A321neo aircraft also provides a seamless in-flight service experience to those passengers traveling from Phnom Penh to our long-haul markets, such as North America and Europe, via our Seoul Incheon hub.”
A common passenger experience
His comments perfectly illustrate why Airbus developed the Airspace Cabin and its strategy to offer similar passenger experiences across its family of aircraft. In Asia, that strategy has been highly successful with carriers who have used narrowbody A321 aircraft to launch a route, an A330 on peak times and ultimately an A350 when demand warrants.
Photo: Korean Air
The strategy also means that if a passenger is transiting from a regional hub to join a widebody flight, there is no marked difference in their comfort levels, particularly if they travel in a premium cabin. In Korean Air’s case, this means a premium passenger can travel from Phnom Penh to Seoul with a full-lie flat seat and then join an Airbus A330 widebody with a similar passenger experience.
The airspace cabin also has much larger overhead bins, with around 40% more capacity than standard A321 layouts. As a member of the SkyTeam alliance, these features are essential for customers to feel they are getting good value when transferring to a Korean Air flight from a partner airline.
According to Planespotters.net, Korean Air has a fleet of 157 aircraft with types from both Airbus and Boeing. Its narrowbody fleet includes Airbus A220s and A321neos, and Boeing 737s. For longer flights it can call on Airbus A330s or Boeing 747s, 777s or 787s. Pre-COVID, it carried more than 27 million passengers to 120 cities in 43 countries.
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