Review of Korean Air flight from Seoul to Manila in Economy

This series covers a recent trip to Manila, Philippines. Please refer back to Part 1 for the introduction. At the time of the report, Korean Air was still deploying the Boeing 737-900ER between Seoul Incheon and Manila on their KE 625/626 rotation. Although as of July 29, 2024, Korean Air has changed equipment (aircraft type) on their third daily Seoul Incheon - Manila route (KE 625/626) from a Boeing 737-900ER to an Airbus A321neo. This means that our flight was some of the last flights to be flown with this aircraft type, as the change occurred three weeks after this flight. They still operate other flights to Manila - KE 621/622 using Boeing 777-300 and KE 623/624 using Airbus A330-300, but at the time of the report, Korean Air was still operating double daily flights using the Boeing 777-300 on the KE 621/622 and KE 623/624 rotations, but changed as of July 15, 2024, when the equipment on the KE 623/624 rotation was changed from a Boeing 777-300 to an Airbus A330-300, meaning that KE only flies the Boeing 777 daily to Manila on the KE 621/622 rotations, instead of double daily. While this might change in the future, this is the most accurate schedule information of Korean Air flights on the ICN-MNL route, as of the time of writing this trip report.

I just arrived on a connecting flight onboard KE082 from New York to Seoul on the A380. If you would like to check that out before this one, I'd suggest scrolling up to the flight sequence where all the flights of my entire journey are located, and click the top segment, in order to read it. We landed at Gate 266 at Incheon Airport Terminal 2, and had to walk to the other side of the terminal to get to Gate 234, which is where our flight will be departing from. When our boarding passes were issued, KE625 was supposed to leave from Gate 242, but there ended up being a gate change upon our arrival from Gate 242 to Gate 234, which we were notified on the previous flight regarding the gate change for our KE625 from Incheon to Manila. 

Security ended up taking nearly an hour. There was a class based in a school either Incheon or Seoul, and so many passengers lined up for security, that it really took a while for us to be cleared. However, we eventually cleared security prior to 7PM, and was time for us to walk to Gate 234, which was at the other side of the terminal. This means that we had to walk to the other side of Terminal 2, as we deplaned our A380 from Gate 266. 

The walk was quite long, but 30 minutes after we cleared security, we arrived at Gate 234. Surprisingly, the airport was ghost town, similar to what airports looked like during the COVID-19 pandemic, when travel restrictions were implemented. I was shocked because around this time, airports would be packed, but this is probably due to our flight leaving much later than most of the flights leaving ICN, although other flights did leave around us or later than us. Note: the picture of Gate 234 was taken on my return to New York. I just used this picture, since this is the only footage I have of Gate 234. I also arrived at that same gate on my KE622 flight from Manila to Seoul, with the aircraft continuing on to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi on KE659.

During our wait, we spotted other aircraft at Incheon Airport. We spotted another Korean Air B737-900ER (HL8248, so not ours, since our B737-900ER is registered HL8272) and a Korean Air A321-neo (presumptively HL8506). These planes were parked at Gate 245, just across from Gate 234, where our KE625 will be departing from. By the way, our aircraft tonight is a Boeing 737-900ER (11 years old at time of flight) and is registered HL8272. Here are the details regarding our aircraft.
Korean Air B737-900ER: HL8272 (MSN 42173/LN 4468) - Delivered to Korean Air in May 2013.

Here is the gate areas, where passengers on our KE625 were waiting to board. By the way, we actually had a bunch of Filipino passengers from our KE082 flight that connected with us to Manila on KE625, so I was very surprised and pleased to be continuing with them to the Philippines. I even managed to speak with one of the passengers, who was travelling with an infant between New York and Manila. I happened to sit behind them on our KE625 flight, but saw them as early as our departure experience at JFK Airport. Unfortunately, I did not provide enough boarding footage due to increased number of passengers boarding at the same time because of the size of the aircraft, but did provide details about the seat and other information regarding the flight.

We were actually delayed by 1:31 (one hour & thirty-one minutes) due to ATC Congestion. During the delay, we managed to sit on the aircraft until we pushed back from the gate. Despite the delay, the cabin crew did provide us snacks and a welcome drink, a first for me, as I never received welcome drinks on the flights I've taken prior to this. This flight marks my 20th flight, not on Korean Air, but on all the flights I've taken so far. The crew and pilots also updated us on when we'd depart from ICN. Below is the picture of the Welcome Drink given to us by the cabin crew of KE625. There were two options: Water & Orange Juice. I decided to go with the Water, as I wanted to stay hydrated for this epic 25 hour journey between New York JFK and Manila via Seoul-Incheon.

Eventually, we pushed back from ICN, 1h 31m after our original departure time, which was at 8:15pm. We pushed back from ICN at 9:27pm and took off at 9:46pm. During our taxi to the runway, we encountered three other aircraft: Philippine Airlines A321-200 (RP-C9925) also bound for Manila, but on PR469, Korean Air B747-8i (HL7637) bound for Honolulu on KE053, and a Korean Air A330-300 (HL7701 - ex-Czech Airlines) bound for Da Nang on KE467. We actually had the chance to fly on multiple Philippine Airlines A321 flights and the Korean Air B747-8i that we encountered during takeoff is the same exact B747 that I took on our return flight to New York JFK. We were also next to that B747 on our A380 flight, when we pulled into the gate. Those reports will be coming soon, so please make sure to follow my page on FlightReport for future and already posted content like this.

After both the Philippine Airlines A321-200 and Korean Air B747-8i took off, we were given clearance from ATC for takeoff from ICN. The takeoff at ICN was very magnificent and was something I was looking forward to. The lights below us reminded me of a Korean TV Series known as Extraordinary Attorney Woo, due to the show's setting in Seoul, South Korea, which was something I'd enjoyed watching two years before this flight. The show is available on Netflix, so if you have a Netflix Subscription, I'd highly recommend watching it, or if you don't, just create a Netflix Account and subscribe with monthly fees included in the subscription. 

Here is what the cabin looked like prior to takeoff from ICN. The crew used blue ambient lighting, which is my favorite type of mood lighting on any airliner. I personally wish all single-aisle airliners, including KE's latest A321neo fleet had this kind of mood lighting.

After our takeoff from ICN, the crew immediately turned on the lights to prepare for the service. This includes the meal service and any inflight services of all sorts. Prior to the meal service, we did encounter some turbulence, however the turbulence was more of a bounce since we were on a single-aisle airliner. It felt more like we were in a bouncy house than on a Boeing 737-900ER, as the turbulence was a bit bouncy, but was safe though. During the meal service, we did experience turbulence, so the cabin crew had to stop the distribution of the meals until the turbulence was over. After a few minutes of slight turbulence, the cabin crew resumed the distribution of meals and upon distribution, I was the first in my section to receive my meal. I opted for the Chinese option, which was Beef with Fried Rice.

The meal service was great. While I opted for the Chinese option, which was Beef with Fried Rice, the presentation of the meal was excellent for a Regional Flight like this. The cabin crew also distributed Chocolate Ice Cream to the passengers, and that Ice Cream was amazing, which the best I've had so far. The yogurt actually tasted like Danimals Yogurt or even Go-Gurt, which was my childhood kind of yogurt. Surprised to see the meal come with yogurt, since this was an evening / night flight and not a morning flight, where Breakfast would be served.

Here is the welcome drink and snack that the crew distributed to all passengers as a result of the delay. I decided to save the Snack Mix until after the Dinner service, as I felt like it was the best way to wrap things up, but did managed to finish my Welcome Drink prior to pushback. Eventually, the cabin was dimmed so that passengers can rest.

Eventually, it was time for us to touchdown in Manila, Philippines. The flight was excellent, the crew were very professional, and me having three seats to myself, made the experience more premium and worthwhile for me. While the landing footage isn't as good quality, due to it taking place late at night, I was still able to provide footage.

Upon landing, we were taxied to the gate. While I don't have the exact gate number, we were parked next to a Philippine Airlines A321 and EVA Air B777-300ER. It was past midnight, so I didn't get to provide the best arrival footage, as I would have liked to. The airport was fairly empty, with a few other flights arriving at Terminal 1, which includes:
Philippine Airlines PR469
EVA Air BR261
Philippine Airlines PR512

In general, the flight experience was absolutely amazing. The crew were extremely polite, and the flight experience was amazing. They were able to respond to the delay in a proper manner, without passengers complaining. I believe that Incheon Airport was able to handle the delay very well, as they still managed to load us onto the aircraft at the scheduled boarding time. While I think that this option may be more convenient, I believe that the crew handled the delay very well. The onboard service was amazing, and the crew were very passionate to all the passengers on this flight. Of all the flights I've tried before and after this, I strongly believe that this was the best flight of my life and would like to have a flight experience like this one again. Despite Korean Air having changed the aircraft being flown on KE625 & KE626 from a Boeing 737-900ER to an Airbus A321-neo as of July 29, 2024, I personally would like to give KE's A321-neo's a try, as they have a very different and more modern cabin product, compared to the Boeing 737 that we used on the flight to Manila.