Asiana Airlines A380 Economy Review (Sydney-Seoul)

Asiana Airlines flies daily from Sydney to Seoul, competing with Korean Air, Jetstar, Qantas and T’Way Air. The airline operates a mix of A380s, A350s and 777s on the route, with the Airbus A380 operating during the peak Australian summer period.

From Seoul, you can jet off to other destinations in Asia, Europe or North America. As an example, Asiana often has decent Economy Class fares from Australia to New York return, with sub-$2,000 prices common. Of course, you can enjoy Seoul as well!

I was looking for flights to Kazakhstan right at the start of the New Year. Asiana was the best option available by far, as I could also include a two-night stopover in Seoul on my way to Almaty. (Sorry Matt – but no chance to fly Air Astana’s excellent Business Class!)

In this review of my flight from Sydney to Seoul, find out what it’s like to fly in Economy on Asiana Airlines’ flagship Airbus A380.

Flight Details

Flight number	OZ602
Route	Sydney (SYD) – Seoul (ICN)
Aircraft type	Airbus A380-800
Class of travel	Economy
Seat number	59K
On-time performance	We arrived 30 minutes early
Star rating

The route

Flight Cost

I paid $1,462 for a one-way ticket from Sydney to Almaty via Seoul, with a two-night stopover in Seoul. This was pretty expensive, mainly due to it being a one-way ticket (I was continuing onwards to Europe after Kazakhstan), and the popularity of flights over the January school holidays.

The ticket included one 23kg checked bag, standard seat selection and a full meal service onboard.

As Asiana is part of Star Alliance, you can redeem various point currencies for this and other Asiana Airlines flights. Using Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles, for example, you can book Sydney-Seoul in Economy for 48,500 miles + $153.33 in taxes and fees. You could alternatively redeem 37,500 Aeroplan points or 25,000 Avianca Lifemiles (plus taxes) for the same flight.

Airport Experience

Arriving at Sydney Airport around two hours prior to departure, I was glad to see that almost no lines existed at check-in. Immigration and security were quick and painless, leaving plenty of time to kill prior to my flight.

Sydney Airport is a fine enough space to spend some time prior to a flight, although it’s nothing extraordinary. (I wouldn’t necessarily agree that it’s the world’s fifth most luxurious airport!)

As it had been a while since I departed Sydney without having lounge access, I decided to sample one of the gourmet eateries available…

For what it’s worth, if you are flying Asiana in Business Class or have Star Alliance Gold status, you can access either the Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge or the Air New Zealand Lounge prior to your flight. One way to get Star Alliance Gold status without even flying is with the Star Alliance credit card from HSBC.

Boarding took place on time. The line was extensive as it was a pretty full flight.

The Hard Product

Asiana only offers Business and Economy Class on its Airbus A380s, having rebranded its First Class to “Business Suite”. Economy is in a a standard 3-4-3 configuration, although there is a small section at the rear of the upper deck in a 2-4-2 configuration due to the curvature of the A380 fuselage. You can purchase access to this section for an additional ~AU$75.

My seat on Asiana’s A380 was 59K, a window seat towards the rear of the plane. These seats were really quite comfortable, with 33 inches of advertised seat pitch and over 18 inches of seat width. There was even a little legrest, although this was not super useful.

The spaciousness of the A380 cabin was very telling, but I was most pleased with the ample legroom available. Not every Economy cabin is equal, as most airlines choose to equip Economy Class seats with 30-32 inches of legroom.

Asiana Airlines offers a dated but adequate in-flight entertainment system on its A380. The screen on the back of every seat was fairly small, and not of the best quality.

The offered content was decent though, with a selection of on-demand entertainment including movies, TV shows and games. My travelling companion and I whiled away the hours with plenty of Sudoku puzzles!

Available on Asiana’s A380s are exterior cameras, which are always great to watch during takeoff and landing. The tail camera was unavailable during this flight.

There was no Wi-Fi available, although power outlets and USB charging ports were at every seat.

Asiana’s A380 Economy Class seat is definitely one of the most comfortable I’ve flown, although the entertainment options are in dire need of a refresh.

The Soft Product

Waiting at my seat was a pillow and blanket, as well as an arrivals card for Korea. Asiana also provides a small amenity kit to Economy Class passengers. This included a toothbrush and slippers:

There were two meal services on the nearly 11-hour flight to Seoul. As there were no menu cards, the crew asked the simple question of “chicken or beef” for the first meal, and “fish or pork” for the second.

For the first meal I chose the beef option, which was a beef bibimbap. This came as a cold bowl, with rice and other side dishes seperate.

Firstly, I much prefer dishes from the airline’s home country, so this was a great treat. Also, it was flavoursome and fresh, and even came with instructions on how to prepare your bibimbap!

For the second meal I chose the fish option. This also came with accompaniments:

Unfortunately, this wasn’t up to the same standard as the bibimbap. The fish was dry and just had zero flavour, while the small bean salad was basically mush.

The crew throughout the flight were very professional, although I only actually saw them once outside of the meal services when they went around distributing water.

Wilson McTaggart

Wilson's love of travel started from a young age, but his love for points developed after figuring out ways to travel on a gap year for less - leading naturally towards Australian Frequent Flyer! Wilson's hobbies include skiing, cricket and planning trips, both with and without points.

Wilson posts on the AFF forum as @WilsonM.