Star Alliance member Asiana Airlines will bring its Airbus A380 aircraft to Sydney in November.
But its visit will be short-lived, with the superjumbo appearing on only six flights between Seoul and Sydney – that’s November 13, 17, 18, 21, 22 and 26 from Korea on flight OZ601, and November 14, 18, 19, 22, 23 and 27 from Australia as OZ602.
Asked about the reason for those sporadic flights, a spokesman for Asiana Airlines would say only that these were for "special groups."
And while the A380 boasts 12 private first class suites nestled into the very front of the lower deck, those posh berths will be empty on each of the Seoul-Sydney flights.
The airline's spokesman says that Asiana will not be selling first class on those flights, nor upgrading any business class passengers into the suites.
But perhaps travellers will be able to duck into the first class lavs, which more closely resemble a spacious dressing room than a cramped aircraft bathroom.
Also read: About that queue for the inflight loo...
Business class flyers will find their pods on the A380’s upper deck, with 66 fully-flat beds configured in a 1-2-1 layout to provide direct aisle access to every traveller…
… not to mention also-roomy bathrooms with space to change…
… and a lounge area at the front-right corner of that upper deck, shared by business and first class flyers:
You'll find the lounge in the same place as you would on the Qantas A380...
These flights can now be booked via the Asiana Airlines website – just keep your eyes peeled for “A388” in the aircraft column when making your reservation:
All other Asiana Airlines flights to Sydney run on the much smaller Airbus A330s, and occasionally on Boeing 777s, neither of which offer first class.
More photos: Inside Asiana Airlines' Airbus A380
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Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.
21 Sep 2011
Total posts 69
No idea what Asiana is trying to do in terms of product consistency. Apart from the ocassional B777 with Smartium seats, all the other A330's and B777's they put on SYD route don't even have lie-flat seats in Business. Perhaps Chris should seek clarification from Asiana as I thought the plan was to introduce permenant 777's with lie flat seats?
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
04 Nov 2011
Total posts 359
Still trying to work out who plays chess on a plane with somebody else...in F....wearing a tie?
24 Apr 2012
Total posts 2431
Roby: We've already asked Asiana why the A380 is appearing on these six flights and will update the article if/when Asiana responds.
As to Asiana's other choice of aircraft, fully-flat seats on most flights were planned for last year but didn't eventuate: Asiana nixes plans for fully-flat business class on Sydney-Seoul flights
If or when there's news to report in that regard, we'll also report it.
30 May 2011
Total posts 37
Hey Chris,
Could it have anything to do with when university semesters finish, those dates look like the periods after Semester 2 exams finish and a the sizeable Korean international students start heading home for their break?
31 Mar 2016
Total posts 619
@roby:
"No idea what Asiana is trying to do in terms of product consistency."
I don't think OZ is trying at all in the ICN-SYD mkt.
Just a quick look of the planned 380 schedule by OZ and we can immediately tell this deployment has nothing to do with changing/improving its J mkt competitiveness on this route & beyond: Only 6 roundtrips and only for the mth of Nov16....will be nearly a miracle for any biz travellers(typical core segment for J) to be able to align this 380 schedule with their actual biz trip schedule.
At best, this deployment is only a PR /image promo campaign in AU mkt by OZ. However in practice, I strongly suspect this 380 deployment may be more about extra-lift in Y to meet ad-hoc demand by tour groups outbound fm Korea....
"A330's and B777'S they put on SYD route don't even have lie-flat seats"
Actually, they hv.....it's just that the design is ANGLED lie-flat fm the older gen J similar to Skybed I still in use on some QF Int'l routes today.
20 Apr 2014
Total posts 93
given the route is a duopoly minus an australian competitor, why waste the latest metal on it?
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
11 Jan 2013
Total posts 131
Is this the flight from SYD that QF codeshare on?
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
31 Aug 2015
Total posts 121
Yep.
Emirates Airlines - Skywards
30 Nov 2015
Total posts 729
Bathrooms look spacious.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
22 Apr 2013
Total posts 143
They do, when you use a 4'3" model ;)
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
08 Jul 2016
Total posts 22
Was lucky enough to fly OZ F from LAX to ICN last year. A great experience. Think the seat is not comfortable as a seat than SQ suites.
Good was top notch and service excellent. Well worth it if you can get an award booking
31 Mar 2016
Total posts 619
@Jeffrey:
"Good was top notch and service excellent."
100% agree based on my last biz trip to JFK in J with OZ. In fact, I believe its soft product/service is a tad better than even SQ mostly in terms of attention to details. This is a solid SkyTrax 5* carrier but remaining largely under the radar among most frequent biz flyers.
"Well worth it if you can get an award booking."
Which is precisely why OZ is not in a hurry to bring its best J(Smartium) to ICN-SYD route permanently: Not enough fare-paying demand in J(let alone F).
Its only competitor on the route is KE which has even worse product consistency in J.
11 Dec 2014
Total posts 10
Chris, are you sure about not selling First on these flights? I know of at least 2 First award bookings done with Lifemiles on these services - booked as First, not business
24 Apr 2012
Total posts 2431
That's what the airline has told us.
30 Aug 2013
Total posts 437
Wow - there are going to be some mighty annoyed pax who specifically redeemed miles for F on this flight and go to check in and the staff say 'sorry - you're in J - there's no F on this flight'.
Easiest way to check would be to see if there are F rev seats for sale on this flight. If so its likely the F redemption seats will actually be F - if not, they are likely to be in J. I have been on a 3 class OZ flight sold as 2 class before but they let people sit in F seats (with J service)
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