I’m off on my first Asiana Business Class flight on the monster Airbus 380-800. My first impression is that it’s an older plane, but it seems to be well-maintained. I’m located on the upper deck of this 2-deck airplane, where they have a large Asiana Business Class with about 70 seats. First class is on the front lower deck with 12 seats. The upper deck even has a small lounge for Asiana Business Class flyers
I’m impressed with the storage on the sides along the windows. You finally have a place for the pillow and bedding before you need it! The free bottle of water is actually cold. So far so good!
The area around my feet seems to be plentiful with a smaller TV screen and a table that folds out of the wall. The screen shows the age of this aircraft. I liked the table foldout because it could be pushed far enough out of the way under the TV screen, so that you can actually get out of the seat with it open. Seat controls are higher, and I won’t be able to constantly hit them with my arm and elbow. A welcome feature.
The bathrooms are 2 in the front by the lounge area and 2 in the back of business class. The lounge area is quite interesting, where there are 4 sofa seats that could be used for social or business gatherings. One of the front bathrooms is quite large and features drop-down seating to comfortably change your clothes.
Dinner service begins around 45 minutes into the flight and is orderly and well done. Menu choices included Korean or Western, where there were 3 entree choices. Appetizer of shrimp and salad, and then the hot entree was served afterwards. I chose the filet mignon with roasted potatoes and spinach. It was indeed hot, nice job! Dessert was the follow-up of mango cake and fruit, with cordials. The wine list was quite extensive and had some nice selections.
Brunch was served 2 hours before landing, with an appetizer and then the main course. I chose a baked fish dish with hollandaise, and it was good.
The entertainment system was antiquated and provided no Wi-Fi options. Lots of choices of movies, both Hollywood and Korean; however, nothing was current. I ended up watching some old movies and some documentaries. There were also games and an audio list to choose from. Of course, flight tracking was available, although an older, simpler version. Unfortunately, the headphones were not noise-cancelling and were actually the cheap older style. Rare to see these around anymore, especially on long international flights.
I actually spent quite a bit of time on this airline because my first flight was Sydney, Australia, to Seoul, Korea, about 9.5 hours, and then Seoul to Los Angeles was another 10.5 hours! Turns out it was actually the same aircraft and was turned around in about 2 hours. My seats were 17A and then 10A. I preferred 10A because it was in the front Asiana Business Class section and was cosier.
The flight attendants were changed for each flight; however, their service and smiles were identical. Asiana Business Class does a nice job! I particularly liked their embroidered aprons, so I bought one for my mother-in-law! They offered an extensive duty-free shopping catalogue, and I actually purchased some items that were priced very well. I would definitely fly them again, especially in their newer aircraft, where they are featuring their new Asiana Business Suites.
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