Korean Air Will Launch a Premium Economy Cabin This Year

Korean Air has become the latest major airline to announce a dedicated premium economy cabin. South Korea’s flag carrier will soon begin installing premium economy on some of its long-haul aircraft, which serve the U.S.

Let’s see what’s new with Delta’s closest Asian partner.

What We Know About Korean’s New Premium Economy

Korean Air will begin installing a premium economy cabin on some of its Boeing 777-300ERs in mid-2025. At the same time, it will remove first class from those planes, and replace it with more business class seats, likely its recently introduced Prestige Suites 2.0, which come with sliding doors.

Jason Yoo, Korean Air’s chief operating officer, was quoted by Aviation Week as saying that the retrofits will take around a year.

The introduction of premium economy matters to U.S. flyers because Korean, a close partner of Delta Air Lines in the SkyTeam alliance, sends its 777-300ERs to a number of its gateways in North America. According to flight tracker sites, the airplanes serve Korean’s routes between Seoul (ICN) and Boston (BOS), Chicago (ORD), Las Vegas (LAS), San Francisco (SFO), and Washington, D.C. (IAD), in addition to Toronto (YYZ) in Canada.

Like other global carriers that initially resisted the premium economy trend but ultimately changed course in the face of customer demand — for example, Emirates, whose premium economy just began flying — Korean Air is doing this because passengers clearly want it.

“The marketing team sees a good demand for premium economy. We noticed that premium seats are filled up first before economy,” Yoo said.

Yoo didn’t specify the size of the premium economy section but did say that it would have a significant number of seats.

The new cabin will also be installed on Boeing 777-9s and Airbus A350s. Korean has begun receiving its first A350s this year, but without premium economy. As for the 777-9s, Boeing hasn’t delivered any to customers yet, and the plane is years late on its delivery schedule. The first are slated to enter service next year with Lufthansa.

According to fleet-tracking sites, Korean Air has 25 Boeing 777-300ERs. The 14 that won’t be refurbished are likely to be retired instead, as newer 777 models and A350s enter the fleet.

A New First Class Is Coming, Too

Korean is also rolling out a new first class product, which will installed on some of the new twin-aisle aircraft joining the fleet: Airbus A350s, Boeing 777-9s, and Boeing 787s.

Korean’s current first class product, while certainly a step up from business class, is largely uncompetitive with the latest offerings from Asian, European, and Middle Eastern rivals, though it is the only true first class product flying between North America and South Korea.

Another big change coming for Korean Air passengers is a new lounge at JFK, which will replace its current, wholly underwhelming space. The 16,000-square-foot Korean Air lounge at the New Terminal One is scheduled to open in 2026 when the new terminal enters service.  

Final Thoughts

Premium economy is popular with flyers as a compromise between coach and lie-flat business. Its seats and legroom are comparable to those of domestic first class in the U.S.

Korean Air is just the latest among major international carriers to announce a premium economy cabin, and we should be able to fly it to and from North America in the second half of the year.