Inside Korean Air’s excellent new lounges at Seoul Incheon Airport
Korean Air has been on a mission to redefine its brand and passenger experience since its merger with Asiana, a former Korean rival.
To get a sense of the scale of this endeavour, imagine if British Airways subsumed Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Atlantic was more than double its current size and operated a substantial short haul network.
It’s a major undertaking and also the reason why Virgin Atlantic launched flights to Seoul in the first place. The UK competition authorities insisted that Korean Air made slots available for a third party to compete on the route. Previously, Korean Air and Asiana both flew from Seoul to London, with BA having suspended its own services following the pandemic.
Korean Air wasn’t exactly famed for its passenger experience before the merger, with tired NHS-teal cabins and generic lounges featuring a sea of armchairs. As part of the merger, which completed in December 2024, it has been investing heavily in cabins and lounges, setting a new standard for itself.
The lounges have been the vanguard of this charge, with the three-and-a-half year project at Korean Air’s Incheon hub finally complete.
In order to accommodate Asiana flyers (the brand is due to be retired this year), the airline’s total lounge footprint at Terminal 2 has more than doubled from 5,100 square metres to just over 12,000. Seating capacity has also nearly doubled, from 898 to 1,566.
In total, Korean Air now operates seven lounges at Incheon Terminal 2:
- First Class Lounge
- Miler Club Lounge
- Prestige East (Left and Right)
- Prestige West Lounge
- Prestige Garden East and West
The price tag for these upgrades comes to 110 billion Korean Won, around £55 million. Factoring in lower salaries and the cheaper cost of construction in Korea, I imagine BA’s do-over of its Heathrow lounges will cost substantially more.
As luck would have it, the last of these lounges, the First Class and Prestige West Lounge, re-opened just before my flight home from Seoul with Virgin Atlantic.
Inside Korean Air’s Prestige East Left and Right lounges
Rather than an in-depth review, I thought I’d give you a little taste of what to expect. Before my Virgin Atlantic flight, I visited Korean Air’s Prestige East lounge complex which happened to be the closest to my gate.
Somewhat strangely it is split into two sides, East and Left, with no connecting ‘around the back’ despite the two lounges appearing to butt up against each other.
The two lounges are broadly similar in size, with Left spanning 1,500 square metres and with seats for 192 guests. The Right lounge is slightly larger.
I wasn’t blown away when I first saw photos and renders of the new spaces last year. They looked smart, but perhaps lacking in character for an airline with such a rich cultural history to draw on.
It’s a totally different impression when you step inside. What the photos didn’t capture was the layering of different textures, fabrics and colours to create a stylish and sophisticated space. Even my own photos don’t quite capture how pleasant it feels in person!
Perhaps it’s a cultural thing, but there are far fewer armchairs and a lot more (comfortable) chairs and tables, ideal if you’re on a laptop.
The one thing the lounges lack are proper views; in the style of many modern airport terminals, these lounges are located in mini, free-standing pavillions within the terminal building itself.
The best they offer are windows overlooking the main concourse rather than any exterior views, limiting the amount of natural light in the space.
Nevertheless the lounges have embraced this, with good lighting and a variety of eye-catching art works creating focal points throughout the space.
In the Prestige East Right lounge you’ll even find function become form with a Ramyun (instant noodle) bar which is beautifully presented:
A lot of seats have been cleverly designed for solo travellers, from semi-private pods along the interior windows with travertine-effect glass partitions:
…. to these banquettes with flip-out tables which I liked a lot:
The bathrooms were also spectacular, with beautiful stone-clad walls and free-standing mirrors perfect for selfies (I admit I snapped a few myself!)
The food and drink offering is also good. There’s a staffed bar in the middle of the lounge serving wine, beers, spirits and cocktails:
…. whilst a buffet is complemented by a number of different food stations including a noodle bar. I was slightly stumped by these individually wrapped bananas, however….
Conclusion
The bottom line is that Korean Air has gone from having a very average lounge footprint in Incheon to fielding seven stylish and comfortable spaces.
It will now continue its refurbishment program across other airports, including Gimpo in Seoul and JFK in New York.
New cabins that match the style of the lounges have been rolling out on new Boeing 787-10 deliveries. Plans to refurbish the Boeing 777 fleet have hit a stumbling block – plans to densify economy from nine-abreast to the industry standard ten-abreast have attracted the ire of passengers and, in turn, politicians.
We will, hopefully, be able to bring you more first-hand experience of Korean Air’s reinvention later this year.