Review of Korean Air flight from Seoul to Beijing in Economy

This whole journey started when I found myself with this desire to fly on the 747 before I head off to military service for a year and a half. I obviously had the option to fly on Korean Air's 747s, but I wanted to do something more special with my flights. Also, with my limited budget only allowing short-haul flights, and KE's regional network having this mindset of 'whatever can make the schedule', it meant a relatively less compelling itinerary with a high risk of backfiring. So, I managed to work out a nice routing of Seoul - Beijing - Shanghai - Hong Kong - Seoul with the main focus being on the PEK-SHA route on Air China's 747. This review will of course be about my first flight, KE2051 to PEK.

I managed to get a one-way ticket to PEK from GMP for only 130,000KRW which was a pretty good deal, all things considered. The interesting thing here was that the GMP flight and the ICN flight, KE859, were offered with the same price. As GMP departures are considered more luxurious and are often sold at a higher price point, I had no reason to go for the ICN departure.

I paid money to reserve a seat in advance, only 10,000KRW. This is probably something unheard of if you haven't been on a KE flight in about a year. Yes, KE have also shifted to squeezing every last cent out of the passengers by charging them for small "luxuries" like seat reservation. At least it's just pennies compared to other airlines. With the recent rebranding, KE have focused on bringing the airline to the global standard, for better or worse. We saw things like the remodeling of the lounge at ICN, and the improvement of the Business hard product, but also things like paid seat reservations and narrower Economy seats. Come to think of it, feels like Business class got a revamp while Economy became worse. Can't fault them though, it is the standard, and premium passengers are what's allowing the airline to make their money.

I used the 360 cabin feature on their website to see which seat has the window placed nicely next to it, and decided on 44F. 

Before the flight, I checked on the KAL cargo website to see what registration would be carrying me to Beijing. HL8712, a three month old aircraft, would be the one. The KAL cargo website allows you to check which registration would be scheduled for your flight up to 2 weeks in advance, although it is undoubtedly subject to change.

I originally wanted HL8557, which bears the '100th Airbus aircraft' sticker, and was scheduled on KE2051 for about a week straight up until about 2 days before my flight. The special livery aircraft are the ones with the question mark, with HL8346 (200th Boeing sticker), HL7783 (Skyteam livery) and HL8557 all still having the old livery. I'd guess all of them would just be repainted to the standard new livery, especially HL7783 as Skyteam and their members don't seem to be very interested in them judging by AFKL or Virgin Atlantic.

I arrived at GMP just before 7am, two hours before departure. I took the line 9 express train, which is always packed. Another perk of going through GMP.

I checked in, got my boarding pass, and sent my bag through the physical check in desks. I didn't need to check in online as I already reserved my seat, and wanted to get a nice, physical boarding pass.

The rebranded boarding pass is nice, but I don't think I'll ever approve the whole campaign. Just very basic, soulless corporate slop. I don't even know if there will be another change for the airline in my lifetime, as the old livery lasted pretty long and the airline seem to be pretty happy with everything. Those BA Landor livery enthusiasts or the United battleship grey nostalgists, I feel you all! Also can't forget the AA bare metal livery right?
Also, the boarding pass felt pretty cheap, like it was from a kiosk. Felt like a kiosk boarding pass with a check in desk boarding pass design.

The morning rush is definitely something to aware of at GMP and I did also contemplate on taking the airport bus which would've arrived at about 6:20am, but it didn't turn out to be too bad. Remember, this isn't the mess that is ICN!

A Korean girl group called RESCENE was also on their way to their flight, to HND. I was greeted by a bunch of professional cameras trying to catch a glimpse of these celebrities. This is basically a daily occurrence at GMP, with the rich only flying out of GMP when it comes to flights to Japan. 

This was the line for the security checks at about 7:30am. As you can see, there was a pretty long line but I got through in about 20 minutes. The difference between this and the experience I had from the JL94 flight earlier this month was truly night and day. In every sense of the word. In the evening, only half of the security checkpoints are operating and the lines were pretty empty even then. Safe to say, the longest you'd have to wait is about 30 minutes at GMP. Another tip I observed is that when you get past the ticket & passport check and head into the security check like the picture above, go to the one on the very left, as it is the shortest due to the way it's designed. The one on the very left goes to the closest checkpoint, while the one on the very right, like the one I stood behind, goes to the farthest one.

After making my way airside, I headed over to gate 40 where I saw HL8286 getting ready for its flight to HND. This will probably be the last time I see Asiana.
One funny exchange I had while taking these pictures, an airport employee came over to me who was holding my Korean Air boarding pass, and told me gently that my gate has been changed from gate 40 to R1. There was a brief moment when my flight did show as gate 40, so I get why she came over to me. I just knowingly said I came here for the aircraft and she nodded and walked away awkwardly. I never saw a gate agent be so proactive in assisting passengers so I was definitely surprised.

After making my way back from gate 40, we were already boarding with premium classes. The R in gate R1 stands for 'Remote', so that's how you know you're going to get a bus.

I took this Korean Air branded bus to the stand. I wonder when all these ground equipment will get repainted into the new livery.

From the bus, I got a glimpse of the 787-10 which was bound for HND. KE do seem to be very focused on their GMP hub, with the internationals being exclusively flown by 787-10s or A321neos.

Our bus got going with the inside looking like this, which made me think it wouldn't be such a full flight. You always have the crew trying to fit as many people as possible when boarding for bus gates.

Our plane for today, this brand new A321neo registered HL8712 with the new livery. It was my first time seeing the new livery up close and personal. Just meh. Nothing too special, very soulless like I mentioned above, but it is what it is. However, I would like to address the KLM copy allegations and say that they are in no way alike except for the very shallow analysis of "top blue, bottom white". The shade of blue looked very different in person compared to KLM's, and Korean's livery has this glitter detail all over the fuselage which helps with the aesthetics when the sun hits just right.

The details of the livery with the sun glaring. It's the little wins we got to take.

This is Korean Air's Business class on their A321neos which are pretty fantastic for a narrowbody jet. You can see that they've focused on this product, as it's a different story on their 737 MAX aircraft, which have only been in the fleet for just about a year longer. Indeed, COVID did slow things down a lot with the MAX deliveries, but it's still a big difference when there shouldn't be a lot.

The view from 44F. If you've been on a lot of Korean flights, you might be able to recognize that the font for the registration has also changed. I always thought that those things would be regulated, but I guess not.

This safety video played, which is surprisingly not AI-made. It's just a bad touch by humans. This safety video existed before Will Smith was eating that spaghetti. A true trailblazer in the art of AI.

The cabin as we taxied to the runway. As we boarded from the stand, we set off without a tow, starting the engines at the spot before lining up on the taxiway on our own. The flight was actually more full than I imagined, but luckily the middle seat next to me was empty.

There was a lot of talk when it came to these IFE screens on the new Economy seats, and I have to say, this was basically a mirror which also sometimes acted as a screen. Had a pretty hard time trying to get a picture without my face reflecting over half of it.

We took off from runway 14L.

Right turn to head west. We got on the NOPIK 2U departure.

GMP seen from above, after making a steep right turn.

A very foggy? cloudy? dusty? Seoul was behind us. The Hangang river with Yeouido and Namsan are visible.

Also got a very nice view of ICN right below us. It was about 9:20am which would be right in the middle of the morning rush with trans-pacific and Europe bound flights nearing their departure time.

After the seatbelt signs were turned off, the person in front of me proceeded to recline their seat fully, which didn't really help.

The seatback pocket contents, which included two separate magazines. Another result of the rebranding was the change in the safety cards. For better or worse.

One thing I do really like about the new livery is the fact that they actually painted the inside of the winglets. I really don't get airlines that don't paint the inside. More so if they paint the outside but not the inside. Come on now, it's free advertising. See how people take pictures of your wing and post it online? You can't be that out of touch, surely.

About 20 minutes after departure, our meal was served which was a single menu meal. The menu can be found on the website. I rarely trust airlines with beef, and this was no exception. Very forgettable meal, thankful we got anything to be honest. The salad with the smoked salmon was the highlight for me actually, it was the best salad I had in the sky. If you're flying Korean Air, be sure to ask for guava juice for the drink.

Mandatory safety card shot which came out very nicely indeed.

The cabin after the meal service. As the sun was glaring from the left side, nearly all the windows on the left were blocked with the shade.

More than halfway through the flight. Korean Air's IFE system also has this feature to look at the map while playing a video on the side. I would come to miss this feature on Cathay Pacific just a few days later.

Korean Air's A321neos are all equipped with WIFI for those who wish to purchase a plan. Outside of connectivity, your phone could also connect to the IFE system to make a nice remote control. You just have to enter the four-digit code shown on the IFE screen to connect.

The buttons on the top of the screen are very useful, and there is a curser? touchpad? to control the screen. I don't see why you'd need this as the screen is very responsive, but I guess more options are good.

Our plane was very nicely represented on this FlightPath3D system. Just a fun fact, I've flown on KE's A321neo, CA's A350, and CX's 777 on this trip and they all were equipped with the FlightPath3D system.

There were plenty of Korean options when it came to choice, but I'd say KE isn't really known for their IFE system so make of that what you will.

And just like that we were on descent into PEK.

We landed in PEK on runway 36L. A very soft landing. I found these A320 family aircraft to be pretty good butter machines. Even more than the A330s.

Taxiing to the gate we were welcomed with the usual automated speech which definitely takes the uniqueness out of it.

And we parked next to a KLM plane. You see what I was saying?

A look at my seat as I wait for others to hurry off the plane. The new seat colors really don't match with anything anywhere. The new crew uniforms are set to be unveiled in the near future, and hopefully that sets the whole tone for the cabin because right now it's just a mess. The seat itself was very much up to Korean Air's standards.

You can see just how reflective the thing is.

The registration plaque, which I almost forgot to take a picture of. Judging by that sticky note, it says 163 total meals were loaded, I think, but the crew said 157 passengers total. I wonder what the general rule is for extra meals loaded on the plane.

I made my way to passport control. The terminal itself seemed pretty spacious and clean.

I waited about 15 minutes to get myself through.

After collecting my bag, there was this separate queue for another baggage check. Another 10 minutes there. In total, about 30 minutes from the plane to the arrivals hall in PEK.

I then took the shuttle bus to T3, where I'd be departing from the next day. My plan was to use the baggage storage at T3 and spend the day exploring the city before coming back on the last train. Then, I'd spend about 5 hours overnight at the airport before getting on the morning flight to SHA. As transportation between T2 and T3 is nonexistent during late hours, I decided to go to T3 first to store my bag before heading off to the city.

The Capital Airport Express was very fast and convenient. However, the city itself was filled with Chinese tourist from all over the country who came to Beijing for the Lunar new year. Literally, I couldn't see the ground due to the sheer amount of people existing at the same time. There's a reason people don't recommend travelling to China during the holidays, but it is definitely an experience.