Guy in his 30s who is lost in life between Cornwall and Japan.
Guy in his 30s who is lost in life between Cornwall and Japan.
Member since:03.01.2007
Reviews:26
http://flyasiana.com/english/
Asiana is one of the two main airlines based in Korea, the other being the flag carrier - Korean Air. I have flown with both and would chose Asiana evrytime. There is nothing wrong with Korean Air but nothing at all special about it either.
Asiana is a quality airline. Skytrax, an Airline rating company recently gave them a 5 star award - putting them alongside Cathay Pacific, Malaysia Airlines, Qatar Airways and SingaporeAirlines. Asiana is a member of the Star Alliance group and definitely
matches/beats the standard of the other members such as Lufthansa and Thai.
I lived in Japan for five years and tended to use a Korean airline when flying from the UK. By changing in Incheon, Seoul you can fly the long part of the journey in the same plane and then transfer for a short hop to Japan. Asiana flies to many large cities in Japan so you can avoid an expensive train journey from Tokyo or Kansai. The flight from London-Seoul was generally booked up but I often got upgraded to business class for the Seoul-Japan leg. I have never experienced any long delays with Asiana and have ocassionally been rebooked to make faster connections in Seoul than expected.
Asiana is generally comfortable on board. Economy is called Travel class and is pretty much the same as economy class with any good airline. The thing which makes the flight special is the quality of in-flight entertainment and food. Every seat has a seatback TV screen which has a choice of radio/TV channels and good selection of movies on demand. What I love is that you can watch pre-release Korean and Japanese movies/TV/anime with English dubbing or subtitles. I think I learnt more about Asian culture on the plane than on the ground. You can also get health and exercise tips - not the usual Californian/Australian junk but advice from Oriental medicine experts on acupressure points and tai-chi stlye exercises. You can also play games using the same equipment and make contact with the ground by phone or e-mail.
Chosing the Korean food option will get you something delicious and unusual. On a recent flight I had a large bowl of vegetable leaves and a selection of meats and dips to be wrapped up in them. The food was very well presented and getting your meal with an attached booklet explaining its historical origin and the way of eating it just makes it something special.
I have heard that on very long flights there is live entertainment such as magicians, but I have not seen that myself.
Business class has huge seats that recline back to nearly horizontal. You have a huge screen to watch your entertainment on and get a lot of attention from the crew. I think the entertainment selection is the same as in economy - which just shows that both are extensive. Asiana crew tend to be genuninely helpful without pushiness/snootiness.
Asiana operates to 12 Korean destinations and 73 international destinations in 17 countries. Their international hub is Incheon and their domestic hub is Gimpo - both in Seoul. Of course most of their destinations are in Asia, they only fly to London and Frankfurt in Europe, and if you are flying to anywhere except the far-far East a route via Seoul would be a strange route to take.
Incheon airport is a high quality modern airport with excellent ways to pass the time if you are making a transfer - you can stay in the transit hotel within the terminal building or if you have time and energy you can participate in various transit tours. On a transit tour you pass through immigration with little hassle and then taken to an interesting site near the airport by coach - a hot spring resort, a Royal Palace in Seoul or the Demilaterized zone between North and South Korea are examples. You can book at a desk in the airport or online through the tourism website:
The one bad thing about Incheon is the rail link into Seoul is not quite ready. It takes about an hour by coach to the centre of the city. transfer to Gimpo by coach takes a little less as it is on the same side of the city.
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Good review - thanks. Asiana is an airline I have considered to reach Vietnam; i is popular from Vietnam to London despite the poor connection because of promotional fares but I have never found a competative fare out of London (to Seoul or Hanoi) on Asiana - any ideas?
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very helpful by (100%):
