Hello everyone welcome to another trip report riding the B747-8 intercontinental ride home after visiting jeju and seoul during the chinnese new year holiday.The B747 8I has 3 operators which is airchina ,korean air and lufthansa however only korean air and lufthansa flies to singapore daily and its one of the aircraft i wanting to try other than the 737 max 8 which is difficult to get any B747 as for now especially when it flies to singapore.
Flight routing
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A day prior to departure korean air notify us that our flight is delayed and departed seoul around 5.25Pm due to operational issue instead of original departure at 2.35 Pm. And our ride home was turnout to be HL7644 (Hotel lima 7644) which perform it flight to taipei on that day as well.
I also watch a TV ad on korean air and asiana airlines merger before heading to the airport via kaokaoT korean version of grab and took about 40 minutes to get to incheon airport from our airbnb at Digital media city
we arrived at the airport around 12 noon and took a while to settle the tax refund before queuing up at row E for check in. We did online check in the night before our flight home .We took a while to settle the boarding pass and check in our suitcase before grabbing lunch at one of the korean restraunt.
i had kimchi soup for lunch as a last meal in korea before heading home after my cny holiday and it was delicious as well.
After lunch we cleared security and immigration which took about 10 minutes which is quite fast and were in the airside of terminal 2 of incheon airport
Did enjoy the starbucks coffee while waiting for our flight as well as accompany my grandmother in a wheelchair.
I spotted Korean air B777 300 ER HL7783 sky team livery heading to San Francisco SFO and pushing back from the gate
Our aircraft got change to another B747 8i HL 7636 (Hotel lima 7636) and arriving from atlanta georgia instead of our orignal aircraft HL 7644 which departed taipei late and our departure was change to 655PM one hour and 30 minutes later from the retimed departure time at 525PM
We spotted another korean air a330 while waiting for our B747 8I to arrive
Here our ride arriving from atlanta georgia a 9 year old b747 8i HL7636 it would make a 1 hour and 20 minutes turnaround after a longflight with catering and cargo loaded.
Korean air (KE643)
Aircraft B747 8i (intercontinental)
Registration HL7636 (Hotel lima 7636)
Age 9years2months old aircraft
Powered by 4 ge engines
Delivered to korean air on 25-26 january 2016 made in everette (PAE)
Estimated flight time 5 hours and 40 minutes
Actual flight time 5 hours and 42 minutes
Spotted another B747 HL7637 the same aircraft i saw at changi terminal 4 6 days ago when heading to seoul incheon is being towed to the gate and prepare it flight to Los Angeles california as KE 11
also spotted korean air a380 800 HL7627 is heading to new york JFK and parked beside our Jumbo b747 8i
Boarding began around 6Pm and were the first to board since my grandmother is in a wheelchair and caught a glimpse of the B747 8I HL7636 and its engine view.
I sat at seat number 37A which has no windows and infront of the emergency exits however the inflight entertainment also know as beyond inflight entertainment was interactive and much the same as the inbound flight KE646 6 days ago
An there foward camera to see what infront of the plane even the 3D interactive flight map which is easy to zoom in and out as well .
I started my first movie venom The last dance 2024 while boarding is ongoing.
The usual korean air promo excellence in flight was shown after boarding has completed.
The Ai flight attendant safety video was played shortly before resuming the venom last dance movie and push back from our gate .
shortly after takeoff dinner was served there were only 2 choice which is the korean stir fried octopus (Nakji-bokkeum) or black pepper chicken stew the menu can be view anytime before departure which is similiar to the singapore airlines menu. I chose the Nakji-bokkeum option as i want to try out the dishes onboard .
it came with a seaweed soup ,seasoned pickle the dish itself and vegetables such as cabbage and bean sprout even metal cutleries and skyteam napkins. It was delicous also when i tried korean food on korean air as well as the seaweed soup
A video of this delicacy can be found on the inflight enterntainment section of korean air beyond ife system.
Drinks also served while enjoying the nakji deopap and i go for a sprite while enjoying the venom last dance movie.
Desserts was served before meal trays were collected and did enjoy the strawberry ice cream while watching another movie piece by piece movie with legos.
I check the 3d flight map and were flying somewhere near philipines and caught some rest after watching the piece by piece movie
shortly after some sleep refreshment was serve which only has soy sauce scrambled eggs rice balls which is ok for a snack.
few hours after refreshment we begin our decent into changi airport runway 2L and see the runway view from the foward camera
We touch down around 2359 pm just enough time for me to reach home to catch 4hours of sleep before heading to school later that morning . We park at gate G19 of terminal 4 and bid goodbye to the friendly cabin crew and the nice B747 8i which is good as the a380 .Immigration takes about 2 minutes with plenty of lanes for the eiacs including the passportless immigration clearance and did manage to complete the Singapore arrival card (SGAC) with health decleration no more than 3 days before my trip home which can be done on the ica website or Myica app and cleared thru the eiacs within seconds and collected our lugguage before bidding goodbye to my aunt and my uncle before taking the maxi cab at the ground transportation counter home overall its a good flight and manage to have a chance to fly on the b747 8I and definetely would take the B7478I see you next time on another trip report Bye.
Hi Pheeplanes, thanks for sharing this report on this gorgeous aircraft.
Finding a 747-8 these days is a rarity, and especially on a flight within the same continent. Such a treat to be able to fly the 748 on a 6 hour and 45 minute flight.
Interesting to hear about this, as I cleared immigration at a similar time and took me almost 50 minutes! The starbucks does looks fantastic 🙂.
The meal looks very nice in general, how was the Cledor ice cream? Have never heard of the brand (maybe that is the ignorance coming out in me). Additionally, nice to see a secondary meal (snack) served on the flight (quite the contrast to a flight in the West).
A lot of places need to follow Singapore, landing in Singapore is just so convenient and as you say, takes 2 minutes.
Thanks for sharing!!
Thanks again for reading my trip report although its hard to fly on a b747 on a flight within asia and definetely can fly again however after my b747 8I flight the route downgraded to the old configuration B777 300ER due to operation reason nevertherless i manage to have a chance to fly the b747 for now although the security and immigration is shorter at incheon terminal 2 compare to incheon terminal 1 when flying korean air and other skyteam airlines at terminal 2 such as delta,garuda indonesia and xiamen airlines even the meal is great even the ice cream taste almost likehaagen dazs ice cream when i took singapore airlines B777 300Er a year ago from hongkong . although yes the immigration at terminal 4 at changi airport took about 2 minutes despite no queue and can use either the passport scanner or the passportless clearance as long as you completed the singapore arrival card (SGAC) no more than 3 days including the day of arrival but best to do it before boarding the flight to singapore hope you can try korean air soon feel free to read my other trip reports even the b777 300 er to seoul.