Asiana Airlines launching Economy Smartium on A350 from May 15

Despite offering enhanced seat pitch in Economy Smartium in comparison to Economy Class, the airline has so far declined to term the new offering as a Premium Economy. Media reports quoting the spokesperson of Asiana Airlines said that even after being offered some special facilities and extra legroom the Economy Smartium can’t be treated as an upgraded economy class.

According to the reports, the customers booking Economy Smartium seats for long-haul flights to international destinations would be offered priority boarding, state-of-the-art in-flight entertainment system, and access to the airline’s Business Class Lounge at Seoul’s Incheon International Airport.

It may be noted that Asiana Airlines also offers a separate Business Smartium class with a completely different seat product than what is offered in the standard business class. This also includes direct aisle access to each customer along with fully flat beds. The airline has however said that the new Economy Smartium and Economy Class will be quite similar, except with more legroom.

Asiana Airlines will be launching the Economy Smartium cabin on its new Airbus A350 aircrafts to be flown on Osaka-Seoul route and also flights between Manila and Seoul to be operated six times per week starting from May 15 this year. The airline is also planning to debut Economy Smartium on flights to San Francisco in August, and on London route in Q4 2017. The customers will also be offered smartphone roaming services and in-flight Wi-Fi in the new Economy Smartium class.