Trip Report – Korean Air to Seoul and back
Date: 1 May 2010 (Sunday)
Korean Air Flight KE 0672
From: Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL)
To: Seoul-Incheon International Airport (ICN)
Aircraft: Boeing 777-200ER (HL 7576)
Departure Gate: C12 (International Terminal)
Seat: 51J (Economy Class)
Boarding Time: 2325 (delayed 40 minutes)
Departure Time: 2356 (delayed 21 minutes)
Arrival Time: 0705 (on time)
Arrival Gate: 7 (Main Terminal)
Load Factor: F 0/8 C 12/28 Y 212/212 (90.6%)
Special Notes:
First time with Korean Air
First time to Seoul-Incheon International Airport (ICN)
First time to Seoul, South Korea
Welcome to my first trip report flying with Korean Air! Due to work commitments I found myself with a return ticket to Seoul to undergo training at my company headquarters for three days and two nights.
My ticket was issued at KE’s Kuala Lumpur office on the Thursday prior to departure and was given to me in a nice blue ticket wallet that fits a double-folded A4 paper perfectly. It is exceptionally rare for one to receive a ticket wallet in the industry nowadays, so it was a welcome addition to my travel this time round.
My efforts to select my seat online however, were mired in difficulty. KE allows economy class passengers to select seats up to 48 hours before departure, so when I tried on Thursday (4 days prior) I could not do so! I was greeted by a pop-up notice telling me of this 48 hour rule (which I conformed to) but still unable to select my seat of which the choice was fully mine to begin with.
Despite the small setback I eagerly awaited for Sunday to come by. That night thunderstorms were brewing over the skies of Kuala Lumpur, and I hoped no delays were forthcoming. A quick check on Flightstats confirmed my fears – KE 0671 inbound from Incheon was delayed by 50 minutes. The reason was connecting passengers arriving late from another destination. I was told that KE rarely delays its aircraft – but this time they simply had to as connecting passengers would have to wait quite a long time to connect to KUL if they had missed this plane!
Nevertheless, I jumped on a taxi that comfortably took me on my 40 minute journey to my country’s premier international gateway – Kuala Lumpur International Airport or KLIA for short. The high-ceilinged marble floor finish terminal was quietly bustling with activity, and indeed MAS’ bank of international departures was about to commence in full swing as well as several flights to China and Europe. I made my way to KE’s check-in counters at Row H and was greeted by a queue of absolutely zero. However, there were only two check-in desks for economy class passengers, and both were occupied at the time. Seeing this, a KE airport ground personnel named Mr. Sim lifted the queue barrier and allowed me to use the Prestige Class (KE’s business class) counter. I was handled by a MH agent named Ms. Amira who promptly checked me in using the CRS. My baggage tag was delayed by a slow computer system, but she quickly resolved the problem by using her colleague’s computer to issue the bag tag while she worked to resolve her problem.
At about 10pm I made my way to the international departures area. I was checked by a female security staff at the entrance point – who quickly remarked that the Caucasian passengers who got in before me were a bit drunk (but still fit to fly). Rather than trouble the whole lot she just let them pass and let everyone get on with their travels. At immigration my passport was stamped by another friendly female officer. The whole process had taken less than 10 minutes, and as I look back to the whole array of passport auto-gates and counters it was hard to wonder why. Malaysian efficiency indeed – just put a lot of it and the problem will fix itself somehow!
The aero-train which only just resumed its duties the previous month or so was being put to good use. Both aero-trains were full to the brim, and I wonder if KLIA should invest in higher-capacity vehicles or increased frequencies during peak hours. By Malaysian standards the air-conditioning of the aero-train was pitiful, but since the trip was short it was alright. A minute later the aero-train disgorged its passengers at the international terminal – which also was packed with incoming passengers – and I made the short walk to Gate C12 for tonight’s flight to ICN.
The gate still had a few minutes to go before it opened, so I spied a few pictures of tonight’s cabin crew having their briefing at the gate itself. In addition, this gave me time to survey the passenger composition of tonight’s flight. From my quick observation there were:
- Three families (of 4 each)
- Several Japanese nationals
- A group of Australian women and their husbands (12)
- A large group of Malaysian Chinese tourists (about 20-30)
- A high proportion of Korean nationals (about 50-70 odd)
- An extremely large group of Bangladeshi workers (about 100)
Aside from that very large group of workers, it was a normal flight for KE. However, the indications would be an extremely full flight (in economy at least) for me. At the gate we were processed by a surly female security officer who barked and screamed orders to passengers. I do not like being barked at, especially late at night – but this was my second time experiencing this and placed it as a routine Malaysian thing.
At the gate I again saw the tireless Mr. Sim who was now assisting with the boarding process. With a walkie-talkie in his hand he was informed when the plane landed and also when it was at the gate. With this information he was able to conduct the flight’s disembarkation like clockwork – the doors out were opened exactly in time for the first passengers as well as the VIP meet and greet service were in place.
Pretty soon our aircraft was turned around for my flight. Boarding began with an announcement 5 minutes prior, and was done in Korean, English and Bahasa Melayu (in that order). Boarding soon commenced and was done by rows, starting from the back of the plane. The process was quite civilised, and its enforcement was done strictly by KE ground staff. Mr Sim was working at the First and Business Class lanes, which boarded at their leisure.
At the aircraft I was greeted by “annyonghashimikka” – the equivalent of “Selamat Datang” or “Welcome Aboard” – and also my first taste of Korean culture. Indeed, most of the cabin crew were Korean and they in turn were assisted with three Malaysian cabin crew. I also did notice that all the cabin crew were female. Their white starched and pressed uniforms, with the accent of blue on their scarves, the stylish hairpin and the neatly tied hair in a bun certainly did make an impression of class, prestige and panache, and certainly much ahead of Malaysia Airlines and Singapore Airlines.
I made my way down to my seat at 51J, and very soon one of the worst possible situations in a flight you can get into - being seated with a group of 100 workers heading overseas - happened. Due to their collective nature they are somewhat difficult to handle, and it caused massive congestion at the back of the plane. However, the cabin crew did a commendable job and got everyone seated only 21 minutes behind schedule. Captain Wee came on the intercom and apologised for the delay, which as before was caused by connecting passengers, and the safety video was played in Korean with English subtitles. Very quickly we made our way to Runway 32L, and the Pratt & Whitney engines of our B777 roared in near perfect symphony, pushing our plane forward with the gentlest of touches and effortlessly powered the aircraft into the air in less than 40 seconds. The B777 was quiet even at full throttle and rode smooth in the air.
As the plane climbed to its cruising altitude the cabin crew commenced their late night snack service. Here, they gave out a packet of Fisher Honey Roasted Peanuts with a drink of your choice. Growing up all this while with MH’s salted peanuts (which in all honesty are quite good) I was pleasantly surprised by the sweet and savoury flavour these offered. I also somewhat realised that these will go pretty well with beer (should that opportunity come again). After this service, the cabin was turned down for the night and cabin lights were dimmed. However, the cabin crew were kept very busy as the group of workers struggled to get to grips with the AVOD and its features. The call button repeatedly came on, frustrating the cabin crew throughout the night, but never did once did they let their frustration show. Amazingly, they kept their cool and smiled throughout the whole affair – and thus did an extremely commendable job. In addition, to keep the odours under control the cabin crew discreetly released sprays of perfume in an orderly and consistent manner so as to dispel images of prejudice and be as diplomatic and as fair as possible.
I usually find it easy to sleep onboard airplanes even in economy class, but this time was a rare exception. With work looming the same afternoon, I endeavoured to get at least 4 hours sleep. But, the seat cushion was a bit too hard for my liking, and the lack of lumbar support made my neck stiff even with the assistance of the winged headrest. But, the saving grace was the availability of space as KE offers 34” pitch in economy class which enabled me to stretch out got me at least 2 hours sleep. I don’t usually have high expectations in economy class, but the generosity of this space got me impressed.
Two hours before landing the cabin lights slowly came back on and breakfast service commenced. Today’s choices were either omelette with chicken sausages, hash brown and a tomato or braised chicken with yellow noodles. Preparing myself for the gastronomic adventure that would ensue in the next few days I opted for the noodles. They were very springy and moist, and the chicken was flavoured adequately to fit with the taste of the yellow noodles. The fruit that accompanied it was a welcome relief, as was the croissant which came warm and fluffy (an extremely rare event).
The morning allowed me to mess a little with the AVOD system called
Beyond. The interface was reasonably fast and easy to use, thanks to the ability to use the touch screen. Choices in English were adequate for the flight, and had recent movies such as
The Green Hornet as well as the award-winning
The King’s Speech. Dramas were
confined to a single episode of
House M.D. and
The Tudors series. Being too bleary-eyed and tired I opted for James Blunt’s uplifting album
Some Kind of Trouble to pass the minutes before landing in full view of the coming sunrise – the morning calm.
30 minutes before landing the cabin crew came around and collected the headphones and prepared the cabin for landing. Blankets were asked to be placed in the seat pocket for collection, and the usual positions for tray tables and seats were emphasised. Looking out the window I got my first full glimpse of South Korea – the tech-savvy, hip and stylish country in which Malaysians fall head over heels for their favourite K-pop stars and Korean TV dramas on KBS World. Our plane made a straight approach into Incheon airport and we landed gently onto the runway. 15 seconds later we made the turn into the high-speed taxiway and the plane lumbered to the gate. Even before we reached the gate the cabin crew were put into action – coming out of their seats to get passengers to sit back down and putting in announcements to remind them of that fact. They were relieved of that duty as Captain Wee put our B777 to a full stop on Gate 7. Upon disembarkation the still crisp and starched cabin crew bade us farewell and thanked us for flying with KE.
Immigrations and customs were a straightforward affair – foreign nationals must complete the white customs form and the yellow immigration slip to enter Korea. Baggage claim also was very simple as my bag arrived within 5 minutes of me getting there. Handing my white customs form with nothing to declare to the officer, I made my way through the exit doors and into South Korea.
Annyonghashimikka!
VERDICT FOR KE 0672
Check-in: 8.5/10 (short queue, business class counter usage and friendly, efficient ground staff)
Cabin: 8/10 (new look, responsive AVOD; let down by the seat’s hard cushion and lack of lumbar support)
Cabin Crew: 9/10 (for simply handling one of the worst possible flight scenarios with sheer professionalism)
On arrival: 8/10 (Gate 7 is at the end of the terminal and thus a bit of a walk to customs and immigration; baggage and customs is a breeze)
TOTAL: 33.5/40 (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)
The good stuff: 34” pitch, professional yet polite ground staff & cabin crew, AVOD
The average stuff: The 3-3-3 configuration (instead of 2-5-2 on MH), the food
The bad stuff: Hard seat cushion, gate distance from customs and immigration, website issues
Date: 4 May 2010 (Wednesday)
Korean Air Flight KE 0671
From: Seoul-Incheon International Airport (ICN)
To: Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL)
Aircraft: Boeing 777-200ER (HL 7757)
Departure Gate: 21 (Main Terminal)
Seat: 51A (Economy Class)
Boarding Gate: 1605 (on time)
Departure Time: 1640 (5 minutes late)
Arrival Time: 2150 (10 minutes early)
Arrival Gate: C14 (Main Terminal)
Load Factor: F8/8 C 22/28 Y 222/222 (96.8%)
Work came and went, and my brain had additional information in which to be utilised at the office in the coming months. With only two nights in Seoul, I only managed a quick look-see at Cheunggekchon (a.k.a the restored stream in the heart of Seoul) and Myeongdong market. However, the quick sojourn made me hungry for more trips to Seoul in the future!
At work I managed to utilise the online check-in function. It worked well, giving me my boarding pass, but the only annoyance was the compulsory printing of a test boarding pass before receiving your own one. I believe this came with a good intention – but I think giving the customer a .pdf file of the boarding pass (like MAS) would be a safer and more environmentally friendly method of delivery.
After my last session of training at work, I took the KAL Limousine service to Incheon Airport. These busses are furnished just like an airplane, with reclining seats and in-flight magazines to boot. These busses take 45 minutes from Gimpo Airport to Incheon in full comfort and perhaps better than the AirEx train I took on my way in.
After an uneventful journey I arrived at Incheon with 2 hours to go before my flight. With my paper boarding pass, I went to the bag drop counter, deposited my bag and received a proper boarding pass from the check-in agent.
With nothing much to do landside, I cleared customs and immigration and enjoyed the facilities airside. In as much as airport terminals go, Incheon takes a whole different experience when you cross the border into no-man’s-land. The ceilings are high and expansive, made of glass to let in tremendous amounts of sunlight, and are cool and comfortable. An extensive array of shops, ranging from a traditional Korean hanbok (traditional costume) experience to Louis Vuitton ensures that one experiences some retail therapy. I also like the use of wooden flooring which somehow reduces the noise of one’s footsteps which are typical in all other airports worldwide.
Incheon’s extensive use of windows allowed me to do one of my favourite activities – planespotting! From the windows Incheon’s role as Seoul’s gateway to the world is apparent, with a multitude of international airlines as well as extensive operations by Korea’s airlines KE and OZ. KE typically uses the right side of the main terminal at Incheon, whilst its rival OZ uses the left side. All other airlines here utilise the remote terminal located across the main terminal building, connected by an automated people mover which runs underground.
At 1600 a general boarding announcement was made in Korean and English, informing passengers about their boarding procedures which were similar to what was done in Kuala Lumpur. It was nice to see consistency in this process, as most Malaysians (such as myself) are quite conditioned by the mad-dash-scramble process championed by AirAsia and her affiliates. Again priority was given to those with families, the elderly, those requiring special assistance and those in First and Business Class, Morning Calm Premier and Million Miler members. 5 minutes later we boarded by rows and with me at the back I managed to be among the first to board. Another cursory
annyonghasimika as I entered, this time I was greeted by a steward, one of two for this flight. As I entered the cabin more greetings were exchanged, and I was shown to my seat by an extremely helpful stewardess. As I settled into 51A it was apparent that this was another full flight for KE today.
Later on I was joined by a man with his family going on holiday to KL for the first time in 10 years, piggybacking it with a cardiologist’s conference in the Crown Plaza Hotel in the Bukit Bintang area. The reason for the high load factor today was explained to me by the man himself – it was a long weekend combined with school holidays – and hence the large number of Koreans travelling on this flight. Another interesting revelation from him also allowed me to find out that he booked through a travel agent which packaged the whole thing for him, and that he prefers to fly with KE because of the Korean food served on board! If he did have to travel alone, he would have chosen AirAsia X or even MAS as it was still cheaper than flying with KE.
As I explored my surroundings I quickly noticed that the in-flight entertainment screen was different from the previous trip, no Beyond wordings were displayed. It differed slightly in terms of content as well, plus was not as responsive as the other version. I also noticed the lack of headphones in my seat pocket – these were present on my trip to Seoul. However, they were distributed to passengers 20 minutes after takeoff, and there were multiple problems with them as many passengers requested for newer headsets – including my own which were faulty/broken. To placate us the cabin crew handed out the first snack service consisting of the yummy Fischer’s Honey Roasted Peanuts and a drink soon after.
Two hours after departure, the first and only meal service began. I was offered three choices (!) which were chicken, beef or eel (no mention of style of cooking). Being naive I opted for beef, thinking it would be a Korean-style dish (it was the eel actually) it turned out to be stir-fried beef with mash potatoes. Nonetheless, it was still very good as the beef was tender and juicy. I would have liked to try a Korean option, but my neighbour opted for the chicken so I never got to find out how it looked like.
Meal service over, ice cream was distributed soon after. Although it was not Hagen Daz or Baskin Robbins the Korean ice-cream was still pretty good. And even better it was delivered in time to enjoy with the AVOD. For my film this time I opted for The King’s Speech - a thoroughly awesome film to watch emphasising man’s triumph over a disability in a very public role. Good to watch over and over again and I applaud KE for putting such a good film inside the system. Music-wise it was average, with one or two new releases and several unknown English albums as well. My only gripe with the system was that the volume steps when adjusting is too drastic – I ended up with situations where it was either too loud or too soft to hear the content, but overall it was good for this flight.
All throughout the flight the cabin crew were very generous with peanuts and drinks – I noticed it happened at least twice during the flight, and I thoroughly approve this as one can get really thirsty between services on long flights. I fell in love with the orange juice they served as it was just the right level of sweetness and was full of orange pulp as well.
As night crept in and with 2 hours to go before landing, the cabin crew distributed our last snack service which consisted of pizza and a drink. I did like the presentation where it was in a box with easy to peel tabs in two different levels which were good as you progressed further down the pizza piece. However, it was slow to be delivered on my side of the plane as the other side was nearly done with theirs! That aside, the pizza was delicious and hot – the perfect comfort food when ending a long journey.
At 2150 the Boeing 777 touched down effortlessly followed by a very smooth landing by Captain Ariffin, who came on the intercom wishing us Selamat Datang to Malaysia. The aircraft parked at Gate C14 as our previous gate was occupied by an Emirates B777 from Dubai. As we disembarked I bade a happy holiday to my neighbour and his family, and as I moved to the exit I was greeted with Gamsahamidas from the cabin crew. Weaving my way past the traffic in the terminal, it was another 30 minutes before I went past the exit doors and back into my own country – with the familiar humidity, pollution and the torrential rain which came later that night.
VERDICT FOR KE 0671
Check-in: 8.5/10 (web check-in worked this time, efficient ground staff)
Cabin: 8/10 (new look, good AVOD; let down by the seat’s hard cushion and lack of lumbar support)
Cabin Crew: 8/10 (helpful and friendly, efficient when dealing with passenger needs)
On arrival: 8/10 (KLIA’s baggage reclaim can be a bit slow, but not really KE’s fault)
TOTAL: 32.5/40 (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)
The good stuff: 34” pitch, professional yet polite ground staff & cabin crew, AVOD
The average stuff: The 3-3-3 configuration (instead of 2-5-2 on MH), the food, inconsistent product and content delivery
The bad stuff: Hard seat cushion
