Review: Asiana Business Class Istanbul To Seoul

Did you know there are over 3,000 active airlines worldwide? It’s a staggering number! After flying most of the major international carriers, I had the chance to a new airline in this Asiana Business Class Istanbul To Seoul trip

What was I expecting? Given Asiana’s reputation, I anticipated a service-focused experience, similar to Japanese and other East Asian airlines. However, knowing their product was a bit dated, I made sure to keep my product expectations in check.

Flight Details

Route: Istanbul – Seoul Inchon
Flight No: OZ553
Date: 05.04.2024
Departure Time: 17:10
Aircraft: Boeing 777-200ER
Seats/Suite: 3K

Check In & Lounge

Istanbul airport is generally well run and efficient considering it’s humongous size. Which is why I love flying through it. I arrived 2 hours prior to the flight after a longer than expected journey from the Old Town.

There is a separate entrance for Turkish Airlines premium passengers, which I ended up walking towards almost by default.

Once in, a gentleman asked if I was flying Turkish Business, to which I replied Asiana, he then asked me to go via the other entrance.

Showing I had a Turkish Airlines issued and code-shared flight, I was eventually then ushered me through..

After check-in, you can also use a Premium Security lane, but be sure to ask, as there are several (some again designated for specific airlines or crew)  it can all get rather confusing !

As a Star Alliance Business Class passenger, you are welcome to Turkish Airline’s main Business Lounge which I’ve used many time now. It is fantastic if you want to enjoy a pre-flight lunch/dinner or just get lost in a few games or VR for an hour or two.

Being middle of the day, this was also the first time, I managed to find free private bedrooms, which overnight, understandably, are near impossible to secure.

Boarding Asiana Airlines Business

While you off course have priority boarding, I headed to our gate much later. It was great to get a good clear sight of our aircraft, an 11 year old Boeing 777..

Boarding seemed to be very well managed. I may have been one of the last Business passengers to board, in what seemed like a mostly full cabin.

Asiana’s 777 consist of 24 Business Class seats over 6 rows. Asiana Airlines refer to them as “Business Smartium” seats. The seats themselves are rather dated, even if they are the flagship of the airline. These are similar seats to Iberia’s Business Product.

I assigned myself to 3K, on the right hand window. These being staggered seats, it had the side console between the seat and window. True window seats are even numbered.

I did not have an opportune moment to capture the entire seat or a full cabin shot so here is a stock image on the other part of the seat for a wider perspective..

On arrival each seat already had full sized pillows, bedding and amenities placed on the side.

Despite the old seats, the cabin and seat itself were immaculately kept. I cannot imagine this would have been a very jazzy cabin even when it was brand new, the colour palate was far too grey and beige for that. It must’ve been an era with JAL First Class carrying similar tones

Getting to the core substance of it, the seat itself was rather comfortable ( full flat bed, well padded seats, all aisle etc) and all functional utilities were at your disposal right here..

Indeed, Asiana introduced the newest Airbus A350 into it’s fleet many years later, and yet still decided to roll out with this very same seat. Perhaps Asiana passengers were more than happy with the product at the time?

Not long after passengers settled in and finished their onboard drinks, our flight departed, 10 minutes early !

Asiana Business Class, A 6 Course Dinner

Exactly 25 minutes post take-off the crew started the dinner service, which at the time was only 15.45 UK time. A little early, but I only had a “light” lunch in the lounge so I  was totally ready for this !

Like Japan Airlines, they have a dedicated Western and Korean menu options, with the Western one being this:

I found it rather amusing that they considered “Chicken Kebab” a Western meal. But then I thought, well if “Chicken Tikka Masala” is a British dish, perhaps this “Chicken Kebab” is just a Westernised version of itself ?

The service flow started with drinks and an amuse bouche and at this point main choices were taken.

For some reason, I don’t seem to have the Korean menu page, which I thought I’d taken a picture of, I may have accidentally deleted it. Good thing that I had actually ordered mainly from the Korean menu then !

Asiana Airlines uses trolley for all courses expect the main.

The starter was a Salmon Roe rolls..

The amount of fish here was rather impressive, and they were of great quality. This was followed up with by a Pumpkin Porridge ( you can opt in and out of any listed courses )

The main here was listed as “Mixing and harmonising – A famous Korean Cuisine – Bibimbap”

This caught my attention from the outset, as I love Bibimbap and it’s something I routinely enjoy in the many great Korean restaurant London has.  Yet at the same time I could not imagine how they would prepare and serve such a dish on the air? They are usually best served in a heated stone pot..

Well the wait was over..

The dish consists of steamed rice, various mixed vegetables, minced beef and complemented by mixed red pepper paste and sesame oil, assortment of spiced condiments and pickles as well with a separate soup broth..

This certainly seemed a much healthier version of what would already be a pretty healthy and hearty dish.

I think I may have liked the “novelty” of eating this in the air for the first time more than the actual dish. It was indeed very good, but what I still really missed was the fried eggs and the crusty rice from the edges of the hot pot you would have from a more traditional setting.

Moving on.. not more than 10 minutes after finishing the main, the dessert carts were rolling along the aisles..

First up.. Bean Jelly with Chestnut & Deep fried rice cake

I’ve had these deep fried rice cakes across various parts of Asia but again, this was the first time on a plane and with the bean jelly combo

To my mind, I was expecting the next course would be the cheese course, but nope, it was another round of desserts !

This time it was a choice between a Blueberry cheese cake or fruits (which is actually part of the “Western menu”)

I was then far too full to contemplate the cheese course !

Asiana Business Class IFE

After dinner service was over, I watched an a very old film. There was a more limited selection of entertainment compared to other major carriers, with a mix of Western and Korean cinema.

The IFE controller was rather modern with a good secondary screen but the main screen was showing it’s age , though nothing as ludicrous as experiences of Lufthansa’s First Class screen !

Asiana Business Amenities

The amenity kit already placed on the seats was an interesting expandable fabric pouch by German/Hungarian brand AIGNER, it contained all the essentials with good quality eye masks, flights socks, dental kit, a comb and then a AIGNER branded hydrator and lip balm..

In addition to this, there was also a very thick padded pair of slippers…

Additional amenities could be found in the restrooms with shaving kits, mouth wash and hand cream also available there..

Bedtime in Asiana Business

While still over Central Asia with less than 5 hours to Seoul, I decided to turn in for the night.

The seat was very easy to turn flat into bed mode and the pillow and bedding was quite substantial. Unfortunately, again, I forgot to take a picture ! But here is a cabin shot instead !

As tends to be the case with many Asian carriers, it was rather warm and was not super conducive to sleep :/

Asiana Business Breakfast Service

After dinner service, the crew asked if I’d like to be woken up for breakfast, if I was asleep. I asked to be woken as late as possible for just a light breakfast 🙂

With over an hour still to go, I woke up naturally however. Perhaps due to the warmth or maybe it was the aroma and noise of the breakfast service. The crew were quick to notice and asked to set set my table.

To start, I was served some fresh fruits, choice of pastries and yogurt..

For the main, they also had a choice of Western or Asian. I went with former, which consisted of eggs, breakfast potatoes with spinach and toast..

It was a good dish. Though compared to the dinner service it was much more of an average affair.

As I was finishing my coffee, we were already within reach of Korean airspace..

We landed in Seoul 45 minutes early, into a beautiful morning.

Thoughts & Future of Asiana Airlines

This was a great flight overall, despite only managing about 4 hours sleep, I managed to get off rather perky and well looked after.

I’ve said enough about the product. What made the flight was certainly the service and the wonderful crew. They most certainly are on par, if not exceed the levels of Japanese and Singapore Airlines.

Asiana has been in a merger process with Korean Air for quite a while now. These are always complicated affairs which need to be approved by competition authorities across the world ( well at least of those the airline flies to !) It’s had Japanese and EU approval and still awaiting final USA nod.

This inevitably means Asiana with also leave Star Alliance, since Korean is part of SkyTeam. On the plus side, this will likely mean both carriers will have new products soon. I am super curious as to what may happen to their A380’s here ( which I was booked to fly in summer 2020 )

Asiana Airlines flies daily between London to Seoul on an A350 currently.