Korean Air Review: Flying from Seoul Incheon to Kunming on a Boeing 737-800
To skip to the flight click here!
Disclaimer
This trip took place back in 2017, I have reuploaded this as I have recently moved blogs! Korean Air continue to fly between Seoul Incheon and Kunming, and as of 2024, the flight is still operated by the Boeing 737-800.
Background
Living in Korea, there are plenty of direct and one-stop options to return to my homeland, the UK. However, in many cases, the cheapest flights involve at least one stop in China. More often than not, a search of flight search engines produces all sorts of weird and wonderful itineraries with multiple stops at airports across China. Needing to return home for a week in late May 2017, I was delighted to stumble across a bargain fare with China Eastern Airlines. This would take me from Seoul Incheon to London Heathrow with stops in Kunming and Shanghai Pudong on the way out, and Shanghai Pudong only on the way back. Not only would this allow me to sample China Eastern Airlines’ flagship Boeing 777-300ER between Shanghai and London, but the very first flight in the itinerary would be operated by a Korean Air Boeing 737-800. Having flown from Seoul Incheon to Kunming on a China Eastern Yunnan Airlines Boeing 737-800 around a month before this trip, I would be able to directly compare my experience between the two East Asian SkyTeam giants on the exact same route and aircraft type.
Booking
Having found the flights for my roundabout routing back to the UK on Omega Flights, I decided to book via the travel agency’s website which proved to be a fairly straightforward process.
Seeing as my ticket for the Korean Air flight to Kunming was sold under the flight’s China Eastern Airlines flight number, most of the functions usually available on Korean Air’s website such as complimentary seat selection and online check-in were unfortunately unavailable. Having had similar issues when flying from Seoul Incheon to Paris CDG on a Korean Air flight sold by KLM under an Air France flight number, I believe this was the norm at the time of my flight for such bookings. Therefore, I resigned myself to the fact that check-in and seat selection would have to wait until I arrived at the airport on the day of my flight. However, for those passengers flying on Korean Air flights with tickets sold under Korean Air flight numbers, seat selection for most seats can easily be done free of charge when purchasing the tickets or at a later date up to 48 hours from the flight’s departure. From this time, online check-in is available, with all passengers able to pick their seats at this time.
The Flight
Before I knew it, day one of my trip back to the UK arrived and I found myself hurriedly packing my bags in preparation for my week-long adventure. Travelling with a suitcase of Korean goodies for friends and families – mostly skincare products and the odd bag of Honey Butter Chips, once these had been stuffed into my suitcase I voyaged out onto the pleasantly warm and sunny late May streets at around 1330. Travelling with a suitcase, I took Line 2 of the Seoul Subway from Sinchon Station to nearby Hongik University Station where I transferred onto an all-stop Airport Railroad Express train service bound for Seoul Incheon Airport. Following an easy transfer, it wasn’t long before the Hyundai Rotem train hurtled out of the subterranean world and sped through the green surroundings that sit just to the west of Seoul before we crossed over the wide Han River. Looking outside, I caught a glimpse of a Korean Air Boeing 747-400 rocketing upwards at the start of its short hop down to Jeju. Following a quick stop at Seoul Gimpo Airport, we continued heading westwards and soon crossed over the mudflats that separate the mainland from Yeongjeong Island, the home of Seoul Incheon Airport.
During the train ride, I checked my flight using the Korean Air app in an attempt to gauge just how busy this would be. With four hours to go until departure, one-way tickets on this service stood at 490,000 Korean Won (£316/$413) and over nine reward seats remained available. This gave me hope that I would be in for a reasonably quiet ride to China that evening. With the train’s onboard wifi having strangely stopped working mid-way through the journey, I turned my attention to the onboard screens which played the news, featuring a remembrance service for late President Noh Muhyeon and updates on North Korea’s latest missile test before switching to display Incheon Airport’s arrival boards, a few public service announcements from the government, a video regarding Dokdo and several promotional pieces.
Following a pleasant albeit rather standard journey, the train pulled into Incheon Airport station and I headed up the escalators and moving walkways before crossing the bridge that runs between the airport’s transportation hub and the terminal. Seeing as I would be flying with Korean Air, I followed signs for the airline’s check-in area, which took me away from the main bridge and along a smaller link which led directly to the Korean Air portion of the check-in hall.
Hoping to select my own seat, once there, I decided to try my luck with the self check-in machines, which worked until the very last moment at which point an error message flashed up as my Chinese visa would have to be checked by a check-in agent. I thus headed over to the airline’s Economy check-in desks where a fair-sized queue could be seen. Thankfully, the vast majority of desks were open and so within eight minutes, I was guided towards one of these. Upon reaching a desk, I was greeted by a trainee who was in the process of being supervised by a rather stern-looking manager standing behind them and watching their every move. Unfortunately for the trainee, I was perhaps not the most ideal passenger given the fact that I held a booking with China Eastern Airlines and I had already started the check-in process with the machines. Whilst the staff member was very polite and friendly, unfortunately, my booking required some intervention from the supervisor and check-in took a little longer than usual. In total, this took a little under five minutes before I was handed my Korean Air branded boarding pass. This revealed that whilst I still had a window seat, I would be sitting ten rows in front of the row that I had originally selected whilst using the machine.
As I have often found to be the case during midweek afternoons outside of peak holiday seasons, the landside portion of the terminal was relatively quiet. Meanwhile, this was as clean and tidy as ever, and there were plenty of places available for passengers and non-passengers alike to sit and wait. Once I had my boarding pass, I was advised to linger around in the landside portion of the terminal for five minutes whilst my hold luggage was scanned. Playing it safe, I gave it around ten minutes and failed to receive a phone call during that time requesting me to return to the desk, I made my way onwards to one of the terminal’s security checkpoints. Just like the rest of the terminal, this was very quiet and, being fully staffed, I sailed through in no more than a minute or two. Next up was immigration, and once again, without queuing, I headed straight up to a desk where I handed over my passport and Korean identity card. Once these had been checked and scanned, I found myself in the slightly busier airside portion of the terminal.
With plenty of time on my hands until boarding was scheduled to commence, I decided to stretch my legs and wander around the terminal. One of the things that I like about Incheon Airport is that it attempts to introduce those passing through to elements of Korean culture and history. As part of this, that afternoon I came across a traditional gugak (Korean traditional music) performance, as well as a parade of staff sporting royal costumes from the Joseon era. Having skipped lunch, I was feeling rather peckish and thus headed to Paris Baguette to purchase an overpriced sandwich for 7,000 won before wandering around the piers.
For aviation enthusiasts, Seoul Incheon Airport is definitely one of the better airports for spotting. Being one of the busiest airports in Asia, and indeed the world, for much of the day there is a non-stop stream of traffic coming in a wide variety of aircraft types operated by airlines from across the world. Across both the main and satellite terminals, large and usually very clean windows offer a great view of the aircraft waiting at the stands directly outside, and of the airport’s runways. After a while, I set up camp on the eastern pier and watched the constant stream of arriving aircraft on Runway 33L and Runway 33R. That afternoon, this particular seemed to be the starting point for many Korean Air services bound for destinations across the world, with the aircraft there ranging in size from the Boeing 737-800 right up to the Airbus A380. These were being readied for services to Auckland, Bali, Bangkok, Busan, Danang, Hong Kong, New York JFK and Yangon.
Of these destinations, being Korea’s second-largest city, Busan is the odd one out. However, Korean Air has long operated this domestic international feeder flight between Seoul Incheon and Busan. This cannot be booked as a standalone flight and must be part of an international itinerary with a connection to or from a Korean Air (or partner carrier’s) service in Incheon. With Seoul Incheon Airport being a completely international airport, those onboard this service pass through immigration in Busan when arriving or departing from Korea.
Looking outside, at 1700, I was a little surprised to witness the Boeing 737 that was scheduled to operate the service to Kunming being towed away from a gate at this pier and I presumed that there had been a last-minute equipment swap. However, this sort of made sense, as I soon realised that Gate 25 is one of Seoul Incheon Airport’s very few bus boarding gates. After heading down to the gate, I found the waiting area to be a little crowded and lacked views of the action outside, so I soon retreated to the main portion of the terminal until boarding was scheduled to commence.
At 1755, I returned to the gate where passengers bound for both Beijing and Kunming could be seen waiting. No more than two minutes after my arrival, an announcement was made in Korean and English inviting those requiring assistance, travelling in Prestige Class and/or elite members of the Skypass frequent flyer programme to head to the gate podium. A few minutes later, boarding for all Economy passengers was called and I soon had my passport checked and boarding pass scanned by a very polite ground agent before I boarded the waiting bus. Indicating that would be a quiet flight, once I sat down, fifteen minutes of waiting was required before the bus doors closed and with few more than twenty passengers onboard, the bus began its journey to the aircraft.
Skirting along the apron and past the terminal’s stands, a good view was offered of a smorgasbord of Korean Air Boeing 737s and Boeing 777s before we arrived at Gate 1. Whilst this gate is equipped with a jetbridge, a fleet of vans and a squad of engineers could be seen around this indicating that this was under repair and thus unusable, hence the bus ride to the aircraft. However, allowing for a close-up view of the shining blue, silver and white Boeing 737 that I would be riding to Kunming basking in the evening sunshine, I could hardly complain!
At the time of my trip in 2017, Korean Air had a large fleet of forty Boeing 737s. These included Boeing 737-800s, Boeing 737-900s and Boeing 737-900ERs. This fleet can be divided into two – those aircraft that were delivered before 2009 and Boeing’s Sky Interior and inflight entertainment screens, and those delivered after 2011 which feature both of these luxuries. As you may expect, the former are primarily deployed on domestic routes plus the odd short haul international hop, whilst the latter primarily operate international services. Korean Air’s Boeing 737 fleet plays an integral role in the airline’s short and medium haul operations across Asia, with these deployed to a wide variety of destinations across Cambodia, China, Guam, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Palau, Russia, Taiwan and Vietnam. In fact, Korean Air’s Boeing 737 flights from Seoul Incheon Airport range in distance from 165 miles up to 2,325 miles!
That evening I would have the pleasure of flying onboard HL8224, a Boeing 737-8Q8 that made its first flight in early July 2011, making it just under six years old at the time of my trip. Assembled at Boeing’s plant in Renton and with the line number 3704, this jet was the third aircraft to be delivered in the batch of Korean Air’s newer Boeing Sky Interior Boeing 737s. As Boeing 737s go, this aircraft comes in a spacious configuration with just 138 seats (12 in Prestige Class and 126 in Economy Class). For comparison, this is 51 fewer seats than are fitted to a typical low-cost configured Boeing 737-800! After crossing the Pacific in late July 2011, the Boeing touched down at its new home in Korea and was soon pressed into work flying passengers across Asia.
As of May 2017, according to the AvHerald, the aircraft had been involved in one serious incident during its career. This occurred in July 2015 when, upon landing in Guam in poor weather conditions the aircraft temporarily swerved off the runway, hitting a sign in the process. In the week prior to my flight, the aircraft had flown at least 23,000 miles, undertaking 25 flights that had connected Seoul Incheon with Busan, Daegu, Guangzhou, Ho Chi Minh City, Osaka Kansai, Qingdao, Shenzhen, Taipei Taoyuan, Wuhan, Xiamen and Yangon. It is also worth noting that a short time after my flight, the aircraft’s time with Korean Air came to an end and this was transferred to the carrier’s low cost subsidiary, Jin Air, where it remains to this day.
After clambering up the covered steps, I neared the L1 door. Next to this, a trolley could be seen with a fine array of Chinese, English language and Korean newspapers had been placed for those fancying some reading material during the flight. A few moments later, I stepped into the Boeing’s forward galley where I received a warm and friendly greeting in both English and Korean before entering the aircraft’s Prestige Class cabin. There, twelve recliner seats could be seen in a 2-2 configuration, each of which was covered in Korean Air’s somewhat clinical turquoise coloured fabric that can be seen in the premium cabins of all their aircraft.
In no time at all, I passed throught the cherry blossom pattern adorned cabin divider and entered the Boeing’s Economy cabin. There, row after row of rather comfortable looking seats could be seen, each coming with an adjustable headrest and a 9 inch wide personal inflight entertainment screen, alongside both a USB-A port and a universal plug socket. Like all Korean Air aircraft, the seats in this section of the cabin were covered in a dark blue or brown coloured fabric which featured a pattern of repeating blocks. Whilst some may find this design a little dry, I most certainly wouldn’t label this aesthetic as ugly or displeasing to the eye. Upon boarding, pillows, blankets and headphones had been placed on each seat, and whilst these were of very average quality, these were all items that had been absent from my ride on this route with China Eastern Airlines several months earlier.
Once I had made it to my row and plonked myself down, I was very pleased to find the seat to be highly comfortable, offering an abundance of legroom that was better than that offered by many long haul capable widebody jets! Additionally, the area around my seat was spotlessly clean and devoid of any wear and tear, bar the odd scratch on my window. Turning to the seatback pocket, this contained a copy of the May 2017 edition of Korean Air’s Morning Calm magazine, published in both Korean and English alongside a condensed Chinese language version, alongside a safety card, Skyshop catalogue and Beyond entertainment guide.
Several minutes after I sat down, the final bus load of passengers arrived at the aircraft and filtered onboard. By 1830, the final passenger had made it onto the aircraft and the cabin door was promptly shut behind them. As with my China Eastern Airlines flight to Kunming, the aircraft was far from full and I was estimate that there were no more than about fifty passengers in Economy. Looking around, I would estimate that about three-quarters of passengers hailed from China, whilst most of the remaining passengers were Korean, and I seemed to be one of just a very small number of passengers in Economy from neither of the two countries. Meanwhile, two of the five flight attendants onboard the aircraft that evening were from China, and repeated each announcement in Mandarin.
As soon as the cabin door was closed, the Purser performed their welcome announcement with the usual welcomes, thanks and warnings, before Korean Air’s very dated safety video took over the inflight entertainment screens, with this being broadcast in Korean and English with Chinese subtitles. At 1836, the Boeing was pushed back away from the gate and whilst this was underway the aircraft’s two CFMI CFM56-7B27 engines hummed into life ready to transport us over to Yunnan. Eventually, the tug was disconnected and the aircraft powered away under its own steam. Despite the fact that our departure gate was located near the end of Runway 33L and Runway 33R, seeing as these were both in use for arriving aircraft only, the Boeing was required to make a ten minute taxi over to the end of Runway 34 on the other side of the terminal.
In the usual manner, during the taxi the crew passed through the cabin undertaking their pre-flight checks, ensuring that absolutely everything was secure and in place before strapping themselves into the jimpseats and the front and rear of the aircraft. Once they had completed their checks, the cabin lights transformed to their deep blue setting and the Purser undertook an announcement informing us of our impending departure.
Given the sheer busyness of Seoul Incheon Airport, it isn’t particularly unusual to have to queue in order to depart. Fortunately, that evening we did not have to hold for too long, with just one aircraft, a Korean Air Boeing 747-8I lumbering into the skies before it was our turn to head onto the runway. At 1853, the Boeing taxied onto the runway and without halting, the two engines spooled up and we began our powerful and short take-off roll. Within a matter of seconds, the Boeing zipped up into the sunny Korean skies and made a shallow climb which allowed for good views of the islands that surround Yeongjeong Island, alongside a few glimpses of North Korea in the distance. A minute or so after taking off, the aircraft turned to fly west and the seat belt signs were extinguished a short six minutes after departure. As the aircraft continued its smooth journey up towards its initial cruising altitude, several flight attendants passed through the cabin offering juice and water.
As I have noticed to be the norm when flying on flights in Korea, it wasn’t until we levelled off at our cruising altitude of 32,000 feet that the Captain undertook their welcome announcement. At 1915, the calming tones of the Captain filled the cabin as they thanked passengers for flying with Korean Air before reeling off a long list of details about the flight, the weather enroute and in Kunming. This was undertaken in Korean and somewhat broken English before one of the two Mandarin speaking crew members translated this. Following a short crossing of the Yellow Sea, patches of the Chinese province of Shandong became visible around Weihai before clouds came to swallow up the view as we cruised westwards.
At 1924, a single service cart was rolled to the front of the Economy cabin and the evening meal service commenced. Manned by two crew members, given the light load, the crew sped through the aircraft and it wasn’t long before one of the two friendly flight attendants requested my choice of either beef or pork with rice. Opting for the latter, this turned out to be pork in a bulgogi sauce with rice and green beans, and was accompanied by a side dish containing a small salad with mozzarella, a warm bread roll and butter and finally lychees for dessert – something that I have only ever been presented with on Korean Air’s flights to China. This came in addition to a tub of Hanjin Jeju Pure water as well as a set of sophisticated metal cutlery on which Korean Air’s famous taeguk motif had been engrained. All in all, this was a fairly decent meal which left me with nothing to complain about aside from the fact that it took some time for the crew to collect the remains of this after most passengers finished eating. Once the crew had handed out meals to all passengers, three cabin crew members passed through the cabin with bottles of red and white wine which was followed by a round of coffee and tea. It is worth noting that two further drinks rounds were made later on during the flight.
Once the trays had been collected, with little to see outside aside from the gradually sinking sun I decided to turn to the inflight entertainment. Examining the screen, whilst this was not the most modern or high definition screen in the world, this was responsive to touch. Meanwhile, the system was laid out in a straightforward manner and was easy to navigate and quick to load. However, as I have noticed before on Korean Air, this seemed to be a little lacking in content when compared to a number of other major reputable airlines. Specifically, this contained just 55 films – 33 new Hollywood films, 8 older Hollywood ‘classics’, 6 European films, 4 Korean films, 3 Chinese films and 1 Japanese film in addition to plenty of television programmes and audio playlists. Of the film options, given Korean cinema’s popularity in a number of countries, I am always surprised by the lack of Korean films on Korean Air! At the time of my flight in May 2017, each film and programme was preceded by a short advertisement for the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics. To pass the time, I opted to watch the film Hidden Figures. This was rather good and I pleased that I watched this!
Turning to Korean Air’s literature, in many ways the airline’s Morning Calm magazine is a fairly standard inflight publication with articles on a diverse range of topics. The May 2017 issue featured travel articles on the Netherlands, Chile and Italy and other articles about a social network organised running group in Seoul, Korean Buddhism on Mount Jogye in southwest Korea, the Chinese paper art of jianzhi, the New Zealand International Rugby Academy, cooking with fern plants and finally the latest news and information on Korean Air. Unlike the inflight magazines of some airlines, Morning Calm does not seem to feature an endless number of advertisements which allows for a fairly pleasant read.
Heading west, outside the prolonged dusk stayed with the aircraft for quite some time before the sun finally sank beneath the clouds which obscured views of China for most of the flight. Aside from a particularly bumpy ten minutes around Jinan which resulted in the seatbelt signs being temporarily reilluminated, the majority of the flight was very smooth. Two hours after departure, I decided to pay a visit to one of the two lavatories for Economy passengers located at the rear of the aircraft. As has happened to me several times on Korean Air, upon arriving at the toilet, one of the crew members insisted on opening the door for me, which to be honest, I always find a little awkward. Inside, I found this to be in a clean state and well stocked with the basics along with packets of toothbrushes and toothpaste – something I presume were aimed for those heading back on the overnight service to Seoul Incheon.
Upon returning to the cabin, I opted to take a seat a little further back so as not to disturb the passenger in the aisle seat. In spite of the near complete darkness outside, at this point in the flight the crew passed through the cabin requesting passengers to close their window shades and distributing Chinese immigration forms. Several minutes later, upon noticing that I was not filling out the form (my passport was still in the seatback pocket of my original seat), one of the crew members handed me a complimentary Korean Air branded biro. With around forty minutes to go until the flight’s arrival into Kunming, the cabin lights were turned back on and a final drinks service was made – albeit simply consisting of a flight attendant passing through the cabin with a tray of soft drinks. Ten minutes later, the Captain’s voice filled the cabin once again asking ‘cabin crew, prepare for landing, kamsahapnida’ which was immediately followed by the Purser’s announcement with the usual requests regarding seat belts, tray tables, seatbacks and window shades. As is usually the case when arriving in China, a trilingual health announcement was then performed requesting all passengers to inform officials at the airport if they have experienced certain symptoms recently, ending this with a warning to avoid mosquitoes once on the ground.
As the aircraft descended, absolutely nothing could be seen through the darkness outside. Sinking through 17,000 feet, the speedbrakes were soon extended and we began to shudder a little as we decelerated. At this point, the aircraft bounced around a little whilst inside, once the crew had completed their pre-arrival checks, the mood lighting was set to its intense blue setting. Outside, low-lying clouds that lingered around Kunming at that time, little could be seen until around a minute before touchdown and at 2151 local time, the landing gear could be felt and heard extending into position beneath the aircraft.
Eventually, the orange glow of the lights illuminating various areas on the fringes of the airport appeared and at 2155, four hours and four minutes after departing Incheon, the aircraft touched down in China with quite a bump. Following some quick deceleration, the aircraft vacated the runway at which point the Purser welcomed all to Kunming in Korean and English and thanked passengers for flying with Korean Air, before this was repeated by a Mandarin speaking crew member. Once this was complete, classical music filled the cabin as we made our way over to the comparatively small international wing of the terminal building. Seven minutes after touching down, the Boeing 737 slowly pulled in to Gate 107 and came to a halt next to a Lucky Air Boeing 737-800 that had travelled up from Bangkok.
Once the aircraft came to a halt and the engines spooled down, the cabin lights were switched on at full blast although it appeared that most passengers were in no rush to disembark. This was a good job seeing as the main cabin door remained firmly shut until around five minutes after arriving at the gate. After passengers began to move, I stood up and made my way to the front of the cabin where I thanked two of the flight attendants standing there before I stepped onto the jetway and headed up into the terminal. From the aircraft’s arrival gate, the walk over to immigration was a fair distance and that evening the arrivals area seemed to be rather chilly. When I arrived at immigration, fortunately, there was only one person ahead of me in the queue for those holding foreign passports. In spite of holding a valid Chinese visa, as I was only passing through China, heading off from Shanghai to London the next day, the stern looking immigration official told me to apply for the 72 hour visa-free transit and so I was sent to another immigration official standing behind a high desk. After producing my proof of my flight the next day, I was granted permission to spend 72 hours in transit and within fifteen minutes of my arrival I made it to the baggage claim area where my bag could already be seen spinning around.
Summary
All in all, I have no real complaints to make about my flight from Seoul Incheon to Kunming with Korean Air. When compared to the same flight taken with China Eastern Yunnan Airlines, my experience with Korean Air was more comfortable, whilst the cabin appeared to be much cleaner and in far better shape. Meanwhile, the presence of inflight entertainment screens allowed me to pass the time in ways other than looking out of the window. Meanwhile, onboard Korean Air, the cabin crew appeared to be very polite and attentive at all times. Needless to say, I would have no qualms about flying on a Korean Air Boeing 737-800 at some point again in the future.
