Korean Air to offer identical seats in first and business class

The first class and business class market is continuously evolving. The profitability in these lucrative markets has also prompted various airlines to introduce the best products available for the premium cabins seating. The efforts of the airlines are also seen to be quite remarkable as well.

Korean Air is also adopting the similar strategy when it comes to premium cabins seating. Korea’s national carrier recently said that it will be launching ‘identical’ seats on its first long-haul Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. These seats would be installed in first class and business class. The seats would be procured from the B/E Aerospace Apex, which have also been installed on Japan Airlines and Oman Air.

Media reports said that Korean Air is however trying its hard in differentiating its long-haul products in first class and business class, and showcasing these to its high-paying customers. The reports also said that some regionally outfitted aircrafts have also used the same premium seats for conducting shorter intra-Asia flights.

The reports further stated that Korean Air in a notable twist is trying to mislead its customers by showing that the first class seats are quite spacious and nearly twice the size of those in business class cabins on its seat maps. Travel experts are of a different opinion though. According to them, the seats in first class and business class are exactly the same when the images and measurements are taken into consideration. This is not the first time that Korean Air has been doing so. It has in the past attempted something similar on its older Airbus A330-300 aircraft layout. The airline however claimed that those older seats had greater seat pitch in first class cabins.

A spokesperson of Korean Air said that the company does not necessarily agree to the media reports and all that has been said about the similarity of the first class and business class seats. “This time the first class seats in Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft will be completely new and revolutionary trim, and will surely be different than those in the business class, or else why should the first class passengers pay for a business class seat if they are not provided something new,” said the spokesperson.