Hello everyone, welcome back to another flight review! Today we’re taking a short hop from Beijing to Seoul Incheon aboard Asiana’s Airbus A321-200 Neo. Despite being a narrowbody, this turned out to be one of my favorite flights between these two Asian megahubs. Without anything further, let's tune in to this short but sweet review!
Despite their merger with Korean, Asiana still operates out of Terminal # instead of Terminal 2 where KE and its SkyTeam members live. Check-in was quick and when asked whether I wanted a window or aisle, I simply replied with “anything that has no seat neighbor”, and luckily the agent mentioned my wishes could (at least temporarily, since you’ll never know with last minute bookings or upgrades) be granted.
After the obligatory tram ride, I entered terminal noticing the long-awaited completion of some stores. These featured a very distinct Chinese red and traditional architectural elements.
Plane spotting at T3 is a treat.
I couldn’t help gaze at the EK giant making a temporary return to PEK for the first time since COVID (I believe).
I also found this gorgeous C17 with President Trump’s visit to Beijing imminent. There were a few gathered around the tarmac and my goodness the excitement from Beijing planespotters were out of this world when they landed.
Another rare spot, and a gorgeous one at that, the Queen heading to Washington Dulles.
Another rare find is AC’s excellence 2025 livery featuring outstanding staff members’ names printed on the wing, a great concept I think other airlines could follow.
Nearly twenty years I’ve flown out of PEK, and I can quite confidently say today’s plane spotting surpassed all others!
With my J ticket I had access to the CA business class lounge. For those seeking a deeper dive into the lounge review please check out my PEK-TPE review on CA that’s already on my page. Only a brief look today.
I headed straight to the dining area and the a-la-carte (ish) noodle bar. These are freshly made (which is great) but some can be left in this container for a while and quickly dry up (not so great). My go-to is the eggplant noodles (this might sound daunting to some Western palettes, but trust me it’s incredible) which ran out right after I took this picture so I hung around for a few minutes before they were refilled.
Some steamed buns.
A major bonus of this lounge being on the second floor are the incredible tarmac views.
In addition to my eggplant noodles (on the right side with shrimp from the buffet), I took some tomato pasta and chicken mushroom stir fry. Still room for improvement but significantly better than what was offered a few years back.
One of the ways to spend your CA loyalty program Phoenix Miles, some cute (mostly panda-themed) merch. They used to offer some in-flight shopping, but nowadays after COVID it's all online.
As I was eating, I received a call from the airline apologizing for a 30 minute delay, right as I spotted my plane arriving and taxiing in my direction. As of this review, OZ operates four flights from PEK to Seoul (three to Incheon, one to Gimpo) all on their A321s. There is the occasional 777-200 widebody, but none for me today.
A quick anecdote and something I regretted not realizing before booking this flight. Air China was operating the 747’s on this route exclusively on the date of my flight and the one day after, likely for some official government transportation. Funnily they were even selling full fare F seats on a one hour twenty minute flight. I was kicking myself for missing the chance to fly the queen!
After my quick meal, it was off to the gate. I passed by CX’s brand new lounge here at PEK. I haven’t visited it myself but a buddy offered glaringly positive reviews.
My gate today was E24, immediately opposite E26 which shared a similar departure time for UA’s flight to SFO. Understandably, the area was incredibly crowded. I initially went to the wrong gate as I later realized it was another OZ A321 heading to Gimpo.
The queen off to Dulles.
My bird for today!
Stepping onboard, I was glad no one had booked the seat next to me, as only mine had slippers and headphones in wait. Classic narrowbody recliners, although KE have introduced newer J sets on their neos.
There was also another paid of headphones in my seat pocket, two for me, I guess! The duty free and Wifi/IFE guides were also there.
Ample leg space, enhanced for the first row.
The seats behind me, only me in J on my side. ¾ were filled on the other.
Along my right side were the seat controls, headphone volume settings, reclining button, and headphone jack. Underneath in between both seats were the charging ports which turned green and fully functional only in air.
Upon request, I was given the fleece blankets with Asiana branding. I wonder where these will go when all OZ planes inevitably become KE.
The menus were then offered, always kudos to Asian carriers for preparing a full meal on such short flights.
A decent drinks menu: note that the page on the very right was not part of the initial menu card, I guess these were additional options later included.
For the meal you had either a Korean or Western option. Learning from my KE experience that the Korean always features a delicious soup, Korean it was today!
There were two crew members in J, a lady and a gentleman. I didn’t have much interaction with the gentleman, but the lady was awesome. She was always smiling and extremely welcoming. Upon asking whether Seoul would be my final destination, she offered arrival cards.
On my KE flight I needed to proactively request these from the crew. Not a huge issue, of course, but just speaks to how great my crew were today.
Checking out the Wifi/IFE manual, these were similar to CA’s “wifi” where its essentially just IFE. OZ even flat-out states that regular WiFi access is not available.
Another OZ A321 in the distance heading to Gimpo. A little traffic jam was forming ahead of our taxi, sorry!
Shortly after takeoff, the crew came around with these refreshment towels. My tray table then lowered.
The meal arrived, all on one tray. This was crazy good for a 1 hour 20-minute flight. The vegetables dipped in the bean paste was refreshing, the side dishes al packed with flavor, and the pork + the sauce all hit the spot. Not to mention, just how colorful is this?
I did find it funny OZ straight up uses KE branding, including on all its cutlery.
Even better, the soup then came, piping hot. As all Korean soups tend to be in my opinion, delicious.
I’m unsure if this was just a (lucky) mistake by the crew, but she came by and offered me something from the breadbasket despite going with the Korean option. I’ve never seen this happen as bread is usually reserved for the Western meal. Regardless, another bonus!
A funny little interlude: my initial towel got stuck under the tray table and I couldn’t for the life of me get it to open. The lady came by, we had a nice laugh, and she quickly offered me another.
I was just about to write in my notes that despite the incredible meal there was no dessert/fruit, before she returned with some fruit!
I was also offered tea or coffee and upon asking if she could do iced coffee, she mentioned “for you, I can make it!”. Incredible, truly outstanding crew.
The iced coffee!
With such a short flight, descent was announced after a little bumpy period of turbulence. We began dropping altitude in the beautiful Korean sunset, look at these views!
Upon landing in ICN, the crew showed some frustration as they repeatedly had to remind passengers not to stand up. I can’t say I really blame one or two of them, as their connections to NY/Seattle were about to leave and the delay sure didn’t help. Of course, you don’t stand up until the plane stops, please listen to the crew.
