Flying Korea’s Domestic Workhorse: Korean Air A220 Review

To start with, here are some photos of Seoul

Background

Nestled on Korea’s southeastern coastline, the country’s second-largest city, Busan, is separated from the capital by a little over two hundred miles of mostly mountainous terrain. As one would expect, there is no shortage of options for those looking to travel between the two cities. Korail’s high-speed KTX services depart each city at very regular intervals of as little as five minutes and take around two hours to cross the country. However, with the cheapest tickets setting passengers back 59,800 won (around £40/$50), these are not particularly cheap. Slower services, such as the limited-stop ITX-Saemaul and all-stop Mugunghwa trains, offer cheaper rides, whilst the daily masses of buses between the two cities provide a comfortable and cheap four-hour journey. Despite the lowest airfares costing less than half the cheapest KTX ticket, relatively few passengers consider taking one of the 198 weekly flights (at the time of my trip) operated in each direction between Seoul Gimpo and Busan Gimhae. These flights are operated by Air Busan (90 p/w), Korean Air (94 p/w) and Jeju Air (14 p/w), the latter using these services as positioning flights for their international routes from Busan. Yet, whilst both Seoul Gimpo and Busan Gimhae are ultra-efficient domestic hubs, possible to pass through within minutes, I cannot deny that if you are looking to travel from city centre to city centre, the highly punctual KTX is almost guaranteed to offer a slightly quicker journey. Of course, the matter is up for debate for those passengers travelling between Busan and the city of Incheon.

Being an aviation enthusiast and thus far from a regular passenger, up until this point I had traversed the route between the two cities a total of ten times. This had taken me onboard Air Busan Airbus A320s, Airbus A321s and one of the airline’s long-retired Boeing 737 Classics, Eastar Jet and Jeju Air’s Boeing 737-800s, and of course Korean Air’s A220s, Boeing 737NGs, as well as a single trip on one of their Boeing 777-200ERs. At the time of my trip, Korean Air’s services on the route were operated by a mixture of Airbus A220-300s and domestically configured Boeing 737-800s and Boeing 737-900s. Having already flown on Korean Air’s Airbus A220s from Gimpo to both Busan and Pohang (only to later have my phone stolen on the streets of North London and lose all the photos from these flights!), I wanted to finally produce a report of a flight aboard a Korean Air Airbus A220 complete with photos!

Booking through Korean Air’s site could not have been easier – after searching for my flights, I was quickly presented with a page detailing the airline’s fourteen daily flights between Gimpo and Busan. The cheapest tickets (excluding the two early morning departures) amounted to a total of 53,400 won, undercutting the KTX by several thousand won. After selecting my flight and logging in to my Skypass account, I was directed to the payment page, where I entered my details and paid for the flight without any issues. Following this, I selected my seat (something that can be done for free on all Korean Air services) and completed my booking. From start to finish, the entire process was easy and quick, taking no more than a few minutes.

This would have been the end of the process until arriving at Gimpo Airport. However, upon opting to check in online the day before my flight, I was disappointed to see that an equipment change had been made. Rather than an Airbus A220-300, the flight would now be operated by a domestically configured Boeing 737-900. Seeing as there were still plenty of A220 departures to Busan that day, I decided to change my flight to a slightly later departure, with the fee for this coming to a total of 2,100 Won (£1.40/$1.80).

The Journey

Seeing as I had to check out of my Airbnb at 1100 and with my new flight set to depart at 1800, I was left with an afternoon to fill. After catching the subway to Seoul Station, I left my luggage there and, seeing as the weather was rather good, I decided to climb up one of Seoul’s more well-known yet smaller mountains, Namsan. Following a 20-minute climb up from the station, much of it up flights of wooden stairs, I arrived at the peak and rewarded myself with an iced americano, which I sipped while admiring the view. Given the early summer sunshine, I had anticipated working up quite a sweat on this hike and subsequently brought along a spare change of clothes. Once off the mountain, I headed to a local mokyeoktang (Korean spa) for a shower and to freshen up before my journey to Busan. By the time I emerged and had an unhealthy lunch of cheese donkatsu, it was time to head off to Gimpo Airport. Seeing as I needed to pick up my luggage from Seoul Station, the terminus of the Airport Express Line, there was no reason for me not to use the all-stop AREX to reach the airport.

After a quick and painless journey, I arrived at Gimpo Airport Station and made my way up the series of escalators before tapping my T-Money card on the barriers and exiting the station. From the airport’s station, passengers can reach the domestic terminal via a long tunnel, with moving walkways to assist those with luggage and speed up the journey slightly.

Several minutes after arriving at the airport’s train station, I headed up the escalators to the domestic terminal’s check-in hall. While a couple of years ago I might have labelled the check-in area as a little cramped and old-fashioned, the renovation works have transformed this space into a bright, open, and modern one. Having just avoided the late afternoon rush to Jeju, the terminal was neither quiet nor busy. These consisted of the usual smorgasbord of passengers one can spot at Gimpo Airport – suited businesspeople, hiking gear-clad late middle-aged and elderly passengers, and, of course, the usual leisure travellers, plus a few camouflage-wearing young Koreans in the midst of their military service. Upon arriving, I decided to head straight to Korean Air’s near-passenger-less section of the terminal. Upon reaching the check-in desks, I was informed by one of the staff members that I was too early to check in and was advised to return after 1600 – unless, of course, I wanted to take an earlier flight. Fairly certain this would be on one of the airline’s Boeing 737s, I turned down the offer.

Unlike at Incheon Airport, where early arrivals can watch a film at the airport’s cinema, relax at the spa, or stroll around a small museum, those hoping to fill their time in such ways at Gimpo Airport will likely end up disappointed. Nevertheless, the landside portion of the domestic terminal features a relatively wide range of cafes and restaurants, plus a few convenience stores. However, rather than remaining there, I decided to stroll around the large Lotte Mall, connected to both terminals and the airport’s station via an underground passageway. Eventually, as the clock approached 1600, I began the lengthy walk back to the domestic terminal. Upon arriving, I headed up to the Korean Air check-in desks and, thanks to the fact that all desks were staffed, not a single queue could be seen. Upon reaching the desk, I was guided to one of the empty counters and welcomed first in English and then in Korean. After handing over my passport and bag, my suitcase was tagged within moments, and I received a small card with information regarding hold luggage, on which the luggage identification sticker was attached. As is the case at most Korean airports, I was then asked for my phone number in case my bag needed to be searched and advised to wait in the landside area for a couple of minutes while my suitcase passed through a security check.

As I had suspected, no issues were found, and after five minutes without a call, I decided to head up the escalators to the security check. Here, one interesting addition has been made since I last passed through the airport, in the form of several biometric gates. These allow Korean nationals to pass into the security area using only their fingerprints, alleviating the need for any boarding pass scanning or ID checking. However, being a foreigner, I was left with no option but to pass through the subway-style automated gates via the traditional method of scanning my mobile boarding pass. Fortunately, the gates swished open within seconds, and I headed to one of the security checkpoints, all of which appeared to be manned. All in all, I was through to the airside area in no more than an impressive three minutes after leaving the check-in desks – something which tends to be the norm at Gimpo (assuming you are not travelling during one of Korea’s holiday periods).

As you can probably guess from my quick passage through the airport that day, Gimpo’s domestic terminal is designed with efficiency in mind, allowing passengers without luggage to arrive at the terminal twenty minutes before their departure, smoothly pass through security, and be onboard their aircraft with enough time to spare to have a quick flick through a newspaper. Indeed, while such efficiency is useful, it is not a necessity for holidaymakers bound for Jeju, who make up a significant portion of the airport’s clientele. However, to remain competitive with Korea’s network of high-speed rail services, airlines flying to destinations across the mainland are perhaps somewhat dependent on this.

As with the landside area, the airside portion of the domestic terminal is modern, spacious, and up-to-date, with plenty of charging points and fast, free wi-fi. That afternoon, all areas of the terminal appeared to be spotlessly clean and tidy. When compared to the landside area, the airside departure hall is a little lacking in facilities, with only a convenience store, a restaurant, and several cafes. Nevertheless, with most passengers likely waiting no more than an hour for their flight, this is perhaps not a problem for the majority. For aviation enthusiasts, unlike the landside area, there are plenty of good, unobstructed views of the terminal’s gates as well as of the airport’s two runways throughout the terminal. Finally, plenty of plug sockets are available for those needing to charge their devices.

With little to do, I decided to find a seat next to one of the large, streak-free windows where I spent a couple of hours watching the near-constant stream of movements outside. Owing to the mass exodus of aircraft to Jeju between 1500 and 1600, upon passing into the airside area, the apron appeared to be a little bare, with only a smattering of aircraft. These included a Korean Air Boeing 777-200ER, Boeing 737-800s from Eastar Jet, Jeju Air, and Jin Air, as well as an Air Busan-operated Airbus A321. Interestingly, at this time, not a single Asiana aircraft could be spotted. However, as time passed, aircraft returned from Jeju, and soon the terminal became well-stocked with a diverse variety of aircraft from all but two of Korea’s scheduled passenger airlines (Air Seoul and Korea Express Air, both of whom at that time did not operate flights to Gimpo).

After checking the departure boards, I noted that the gate for my flight had changed to Gate 3, located towards the end of the pier mostly utilised by Korean Air, Jin Air, and Eastar Jet. A few moments later, at 1724, I received an email informing me that the departure time had been changed from 1800 to 1835, with a new arrival time of 1930. At around 1810, the shiny Airbus A220-300 that would operate the evening service down to Busan pulled into the stand after its short flight from Ulsan. Resembling a Formula 1 pit crew, the ground crew hurried into action as soon as the aircraft came to a halt, and within a couple of minutes, disembarkation commenced. This particular aircraft came in the form of HL8091, the tenth and the most recent addition to Korean Air’s A220 fleet and, at the time of my flight, the third most recent addition to the airline’s overall fleet. This airframe embarked on its first flight from Montreal Mirabel in late January 2019, later making the long journey to Gimpo via Anchorage and Sapporo in early March.

The aircraft features 127 seats across Economy, with those seats at the front featuring 36 inches of pitch and the rest a modest but acceptable 32 inches. Interestingly, while this front section was initially marketed as ‘Economy Plus,’ Korean Air appears to have done a U-turn on this, and today these seats are available to those who pay full fare or are willing to pay an extra fee. In the same way that Korean Air operates the lowest capacity Airbus A380s, the same applies to the smallest aircraft in their fleet, their Airbus A220-300s, which are capable of transporting six fewer passengers than those of Swiss, fifteen fewer than those of Air Tanzania, and a massive eighteen fewer than those of Air Baltic. Returning to HL8091, in the week before my flight, this aircraft had flown over 11,300 miles on a total of 50 flights in Korean skies, connecting Gimpo with Busan, Jeju, Pohang, and Ulsan, in addition to making a round trip from Jeju to Wonju, a city located to the southeast of Seoul in the mountainous province of Gangwon.

As boarding time approached, a new set of crew consisting of a couple of pilots and four flight attendants made their way down the jetway and onto the aircraft, while in the terminal, preparations for boarding appeared to be underway. With only five minutes until the new departure time, it appeared that a punctual departure according to this new schedule would be impossible. At the gate area, thankfully, most passengers were calm; however, one suited businessman appeared to be struggling to come to terms with the flight’s 35-minute delay, angrily shouting at the gate staff and generally causing a scene. After repeatedly questioning the ground staff about why the aircraft was late, they answered his questions, claiming that the inbound aircraft had been delayed departing Ulsan. Highlighting the irate passenger’s lack of understanding regarding the workings of an airline, his response was something like, “Well, can’t you get another aircraft to take me to Busan?” Thankfully, this spectacle did not last long, and within a minute or so, boarding commenced. As per usual, priority passengers and those needing assistance were invited to board first; however, with only a small number of passengers falling into the former category, boarding for the majority commenced within moments.

Once my boarding pass had been scanned, I headed down to the jetway and soon arrived at the door of the aircraft. As with all Korean Air flights, a trolley featuring a selection of Korean and English language newspapers had been placed next to the main cabin door, and passengers were free to take these to read onboard the aircraft. Upon stepping over the CSeries footplate and into the aircraft’s forward galley, I was welcomed in Korean and English by two crew members before I made my way into the bright and modern main cabin.

After two more warm welcomes further down the aircraft, I arrived at Row 47 and placed my bag down on my seat. Deciding that I would likely not get the chance to make a bathroom trip whilst in the air, I opted to visit one of the two bathrooms at the rear of the aircraft. Noticing my visit, one of the flight attendants insisted on opening the door for me – something that has happened to me in the past on Korean Air flights and which I have always found to be a little awkward. Not only was the lavatory immaculately clean, but I believe Bombardier did a superb job of designing these, giving them a spacious, modern, and airy feel, largely assisted by the lavatory’s personal window.

Returning to the main cabin, each seat onboard the aircraft is covered in the same basic pattern that comes as standard in Economy on all aircraft operated by Korean Air. Interestingly, unlike the airline’s other aircraft, where seats in the forward portion of Economy are covered in blue fabric and those in the rear are covered in brown, only blue fabric-covered seats are visible on the A220. Each seat features a movable headrest, covered with a disposable antimacassar. Finally, as with most new aircraft, each seat is equipped with a USB-A port, which I found to work well, charging my phone relatively quickly. Comfort-wise, I found the seat to be fantastic – both well-padded and featuring a more than acceptable amount of legroom (although still less than that found on the majority of Korean Air’s other types). As one would expect from such a young aircraft, the interior appeared to be devoid of any wear and tear, and despite the short turnaround, the cabin appeared to be spotlessly clean. Turning to the seatback pocket, this featured a copy of the airline’s Morning Calm magazine, the 112-page Beyond entertainment guide, a duty-free catalogue, safety card, sick bag, and a card with details of the aircraft’s wi-fi system.

Within moments of returning to my seat, I was joined by two neighbours, who appeared to be part of a larger family party returning to Busan after visiting relatives in Incheon. In an impressive eight minutes, boarding was concluded, and the flight turned out to be around 70% full. As I had expected, most onboard appeared to be Busan-based businesspeople heading back after a day’s work. In addition, there also appeared to be a reasonable number of deadheading crew who would presumably operate either Korean Air’s evening Airbus A330 flight from Busan to Bangkok or the Boeing 737 service down to Danang. By 1840, the main cabin door was closed, and the purser welcomed all passengers onboard the aircraft in Korean and English, giving the usual details such as the flight time and a warning to keep seatbelts fastened when seated. Lacking any overhead screens or personal entertainment systems, a pre-recorded safety announcement rang out through the cabin, accompanied by a manual safety demonstration from the crew. During this, at 1844, the aircraft jolted back away from the terminal before soon coming to a stop.

Once pushback was complete, the aircraft began humming and whirring, and before long, the aircraft’s two Pratt and Whitney PW1524G engines quietly powered up. Within a few minutes, the ground crew waved goodbye to the aircraft, and it powered away from the terminal at 1850. As the A220 made its way past the international terminal and remote stands, I spotted something unusual – an aircraft in an unfamiliar livery, this being mostly blue and bearing the titles Hi Air. A quick search that evening revealed the turboprop to be the first aircraft to be operated by Korea’s latest start-up airline. If successful in launching operations, this carrier would be the first to operate scheduled turboprop services in South Korea in around a decade. As the jet slowly progressed along the taxiway, a Line 9 train from Seoul’s subway network whizzed past on its way to the nearby terminus at Gaehwa.

Several minutes after commencing its taxi, the A220 took a left turn and held to allow an Asiana Airbus A320 to depart to Gwangju, after which the aircraft taxied onto Runway 14L and held again. After another minute of waiting to allow one of Korean Air’s Boeing 737-900s to touch down on the parallel runway, at 1900 the two engines spooled up, and the jet began a powerful take-off roll. Being far from full and with likely little cargo, the aircraft’s take-off roll was rather short, and the aircraft soon took to the skies. During the initial climb out, sitting on the right-hand side of the aircraft, I was treated to a bird’s-eye view of the ramp to the south of the runway, home to types ranging in size from small two-seater Cessna 152s to much larger Korean Coastguard Bombardier Challengers and CASA 235s. Meanwhile, the airport’s rotary operations are no less diverse, with helicopters ranging from the Robinson R22 to the powerful Kamov Ka-32s operated by the Forestry Service. Beyond the airport, the short 395-metre-tall peak of Mount Gyeyang could be seen beneath the dramatic-looking skies.

Despite the clouds above, the visibility that evening was fantastic, and as the aircraft turned southwards, several islands off Korea’s western coastline were visible before the A220 steadily rose up into the clouds. Following the usual lumps and bumps, the jet emerged from the clouds, revealing the rapidly darkening skies that would soon offer a superb sunset. Inside the cabin, the seatbelt signs were turned off, and the crew got to work as soon as they were extinguished, with two trolleys rolled out into the aisle – one commencing service from the rear and the other from the front of the aircraft. Onboard domestic flights, Korean Air offers all passengers a selection of non-alcoholic drinks, with coffee, cold green tea, water, and a variety of juices usually on offer. While it would be nice to see this accompanied by a small snack, given that domestic flights in Korea rarely exceed an hour in length, this offering is nothing to complain about and proves to be more than one would receive if travelling by train. That said, with an identical service offered to those in Prestige Class on aircraft fitted with this cabin, those who have forked out the money to fly in this class may wish to complain.

As tends to be the norm on Korean carriers, the captain typically delivers their welcome announcement after reaching cruising altitude and remains silent for the rest of the flight. This short hop was no exception. Once levelled off, at 1915, the captain thanked passengers for flying with Korean Air, apologised for the delay, and provided details of the weather in Busan and the expected arrival time. That evening, while little could be seen of the ground below, the aircraft followed a fairly straightforward and direct route, cutting southeastwards across mountainous Korea, passing the cities of Cheongju, Daejeon, and Daegu as well as a multitude of smaller towns. Outside, the sun continued to sink down towards the horizon, offering fantastic views as the aircraft journeyed towards Busan.

Looking around during the flight, it was unsurprising to see that most passengers were either asleep, reading books, or furiously typing away on their laptops, with few (if any) consuming the entertainment provided by the airline. In mid-2018, Korean Air launched its first Wi-Fi-based streaming service, available exclusively on the airline’s Airbus A220 fleet. With the exception of their domestic-configured Boeing 737s, all other Korean Air aircraft are fitted with PTVs. However, as with many airlines, in order to access this streaming service, passengers must first download the relevant app, Beyond M. Compared to some other airlines with similar arrangements, Korean Air does a decent job of advertising the need to download this app during the booking process. Throughout the flight, I found the app to work well, with no problems whatsoever, functioning in the same way as a PTV. Content-wise, while the range of offerings may not compete with airlines like Lufthansa, the ME3 carriers, or Singapore Airlines, I had few complaints. The system featured the latest films from Hollywood and Korea, as well as a reasonable selection of movies from the airline’s destinations across the globe. This was complemented by a diverse array of TV programmes and music playlists.

For those who had not downloaded the Beyond M app before the flight, the airline’s Morning Calm in-flight magazine was available. As in-flight magazines go, this one was fairly standard. However, it stood out for being largely devoid of adverts, with only a few scattered throughout the publication. The 126-page-long June 2019 edition featured a range of articles published in both Korean and English. These included travel pieces highlighting destinations in Korea and abroad, such as Brisbane, French Polynesia, Innisfree Garden in New York, the Isles of Scilly off England’s southwestern tip, and the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv. Korean destinations featured in the magazine included Jeju’s Olle Trail, Seoul’s Olympic Park, and Gwangju’s Yangnim neighbourhood. Reflecting Korea’s status as a fashion capital, the magazine also contained articles on Maori clothing, the Royal School of Needlework, and 3D-printed lacquer art. Lastly, the magazine featured food-related articles, including one on myeongi (mountain garlic leaf) and another on oranges. The back of the magazine included the usual news, Skypass information, immigration guidance, in-flight service plans, and a Korean Air route map.

Only 25 minutes into the flight, at 1925, the seatbelt signs were switched back on. Below, a brief gap in the clouds revealed the snaking Nakdong River to the west of Daegu. Over the next ten minutes, the crew collected paper cups, serviettes, and any other rubbish accumulated during the flight before ensuring the cabin was secure for landing.

Around ten minutes later, the aircraft descended into the clouds and quickly emerged to reveal the dark blue waters of the East Sea below. Several flotillas of well-lit fishing vessels heading out for the night, as well as tens of large cargo ships waiting to enter Busan Port, were visible. The aircraft conducted a gentle 180-degree turn to align with Gimhae’s Runway 36L, with the flaps gradually lowered during the process. Soon enough, Busan’s southwestern suburbs of Dadae and Sinpyeong came into view, as did the small collection of mountains in the west of the city. At this point, the landing gear could be felt locking into position.

After a smooth descent over the Nakdong River Estuary, 45 minutes after taking to the skies, the aircraft made a soft touchdown on Runway 36L at 1945, followed by gentle braking. Unsurprisingly, given the bank of late evening departures to Southeast Asia, the ramp and international terminal appeared busy. As the aircraft continued its taxi, the large military area came into view, showcasing the usual suspects – Boeing AEW&Cs and a sea of CASA 235s and Hercules aircraft. Additionally, the two Airbus A330 tanker aircraft recently delivered to the ROKAF (Republic of Korea Air Force) were visible. After the aircraft exited the runway and made its way to the gate, one of the cabin crew members thanked passengers for flying with Korean Air and reminded everyone of the no-photo policy at the airport. Outside, little could be seen except for a Korean Air Boeing 747 and a Boeing 777 at the airline’s maintenance facility on the opposite side of the airfield.

At 1953, the A220 slowly edged into Gate 31, parking next to an Air Busan-operated sharklet-fitted Airbus A321. The engines promptly shut down, and passengers began gathering their belongings. Although there was no obvious rush to disembark, within a couple of minutes, the jetway was connected, and the cabin door opened. Passengers exited the aircraft in a calm and orderly manner. Upon reaching the forward galley, where two crew members bowed and enthusiastically thanked passengers, I expressed my gratitude and stepped onto the glass jetway before heading into the terminal. Once inside, I descended the escalators and immediately entered the domestic baggage collection hall, which was rather busy due to the neighbouring arrival from Jeju. Arriving there only nine minutes after pulling into the stand, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the bags from the Seoul flight were already spinning around the carousel.

After picking up my small suitcase, I proceeded to the airport’s Busan-Gimhae Light Rail Transit station and boarded a driverless train for the short journey to Sasang. From there, I transferred to Line 2 of the Busan Metro. Twenty stops later, I arrived at Geumnyeonsan near Busan’s famous Gwangan Beach and made the short walk to my Airbnb.

Summary

In order to remain competitive with Korail’s high-speed KTX services between Seoul and Busan, punctuality is key for airlines on the Gimpo–Busan route. While this is often the case, I cannot deny that on this particular day, taking the train would have been significantly quicker than flying due to the delay. Nevertheless, everything else about the journey went smoothly, both on the ground and in the air.

Focusing on the A220-300, my short ride on the aircraft was comfortable. While the legroom was slightly more cramped compared to Korean Air’s other aircraft types, it was still better than that offered by many other airlines worldwide. Being a relatively new addition to the fleet, the cabin was spotless, modern, and well-maintained, adding to the overall experience.

As for the service, it was efficient and professional, though the short nature of the flight meant there was little opportunity for the crew to make a lasting impression. The provision of a small drinks service, while simple, was appreciated. However, given that it is identical to what passengers in Prestige Class receive on this route, those paying a premium for that cabin may feel underwhelmed.

The in-flight entertainment system worked well and offered a good selection of movies, TV shows, and music for a short domestic flight. Meanwhile, the Morning Calm magazine provided some interesting reading material, particularly for those who did not pre-download the Beyond M app.

Would I recommend flying on Korean Air’s A220-300 again? Absolutely. While the efficiency of South Korea’s high-speed rail network makes it a tough competitor for domestic flights, the A220 offers a comfortable and enjoyable alternative for aviation enthusiasts or those with specific travel needs. If the price is competitive, I would have no hesitation in flying with Korean Air on this route again.