Flight: Korean Air KE 17 from Seoul to Los Angeles
Duration: 11 hours
Aircraft: A388(Airbus 380-800)
Class: Business (Prestige Class)
Seat: 12E(Middle row aisle seat)
Seat Specification: Flat Bed, Seat pitch: 74 “. Seat width: 21.6 ”
Korean Air flies 3 different types of configuration between Seoul and Los Angeles though Airbus 380 seems to be the primary one. I have flown Boeing 747-800 and Boeing 777-300ER on this route both of which feature my favorite Apex Suites. However, on this flight it was sadly the Airbus 380 with the upper deck featuring all business class seats in 2 x 2 x 2 configuration.
I had pre-selected my meal on Korean Air website a few days before the flight for the main entree for lunch and breakfast before landing.
After lunch I turned the seat into bed and went to sleep. One of my least favorite business class seats, you can clearly see these seats are NOT flat-bed seats due to the structure. They are quite uncomfortable to sleep on compared to other airline seats but I still managed to get at least 5 hours of sleep.
Bottomline:
Seat: ***
Service: ***
Food: **
Korean Air Business class on A380 is one of my least favorite business class seats (especially for long haul flights). This is primarily due to the seats not having any sort of privacy, the lack of fully flat beds (although advertised as full-flat) due to the structure of the seat in bed mode. To add to that, 2 x 2 x 2 on A380 is not a competitive product any more but on the same note, the 2 x 2 x 2 in Korean Air Apex Suites (aboard Boeing 747 as well as most Boeing 777-300ER) are actually one of my favorite business class seats.
The service was mediocre for the flight. I had similar experience on the previous BKK-ICN segment on Korean Air also.
Korean Air Business class food has always been fairly mediocre on all flights in my experience so far. This trip was no exception. The chicken with vegetables for lunch as well as the sea-food pasta for breakfast was no different.