Asiana goes double daily on Singapore – Seoul this winter, including A350s

South Korean Star Alliance airline Asiana has updated its flight schedules to and from Singapore for the northern winter season, with an impressive hike to 14 services per week to and from Seoul, which will represent 140% of the carrier’s pre-COVID capacity on the route by December this year.

In more good news, four of the 14 services each week will see older Airbus A330 aircraft with a 2-2-2 configuration in Business Class replaced by the carrier’s newer Airbus A350, featuring direct aisle access and fully flat beds.

The upgrade comes as South Korea finally became a test-free travel option on 1st October 2022, with no vaccination requirements, a move likely to lead to a spike in year-end travel demand to and from Singapore.

That said, a record flight capacity this winter across all airlines between Singapore and Seoul could prove to be overkill, now that Japan and Taiwan are reopening to tourists.

The schedule

Currently Asiana operates a daily flight between Singapore and Seoul, OZ752/751, but from the start of the northern winter season on 30th October 2022 the OZ753/754 service will be re-added, three days per week.

This will initially increase overall flights to 10 times weekly, matching the carrier’s pre-COVID frequencies and schedule timings.

From 1st December 2022, the reinstated OZ753/754 service gets hiked to daily, meaning there’s a further increase to 14 weekly flights overall, with twice daily operation representing 140% of pre-COVID capacity for the carrier, as shown below.

Asiana Singapore – Seoul Schedule
(Now – 25th March 2023)

Existing flights

New flights from 30th October 2022

Additional new flights from 1st December 2022

			Days
			M	T	W	T	F	S	S
	OZ754 A330-300
SIN 22:10		ICN 05:40*
	OZ752 A350-900
SIN 23:15		ICN 06:35*
	OZ752 A330-300^
SIN 23:15		ICN 06:35*
	OZ753 A330-300
ICN 13:10		SIN 18:30
	OZ751 A350-900
ICN 16:20		SIN 21:55
	OZ751 A330-300^
ICN 16:20		SIN 21:55

* Next day
^ A350-900 from 1st March 2023

In terms of seat volumes, this will represent 138% of the capacity offered by the carrier before COVID-19, compared to January 2020 schedules.

Asiana’s A350 is back on Singapore flights

From 1st October 2022, Asiana quietly reintroduced its Airbus A350 on OZ752/752 flights between Singapore and Seoul, with services on Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays in both directions benefitting from the aircraft’s newer cabins, including direct aisle access seats in Business Class with a 1-2-1 layout.

Starting from this week, all Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday Asiana OZ752/751 flights will be operated by the A350, as outlined in the schedule table above.

These four weekly services will continue to be operated by the A350 through to the end of the February 2023, after which all OZ752/751 flights switch to the newer type, so these are the flights to pick where possible in Business Class for the best experience.

Asiana opted for the Zodiac (now Safran) ‘Skylounge Core’ Business Class seat for its A350s, also used by Emirates on its A380s and indeed on Asiana’s own A380s too.

All other Asiana flights on the Singapore – Seoul route will continue to use the Airbus A330-300, which has a far more basic and less private 2-2-2 layout in Business Class.

The bed mode in these seats in particular is an angle-flat design, reaching only 168 degrees, which for most people isn’t the easiest to sleep in.

Here’s how the stats for these Business Class seats compare.

	Asiana Aircraft to/from Singapore
	A330-300	A350-900
Configuration	2-2-2	1-2-1
Seat width	20″	22″
Seat pitch	60″	77″
Bed recline	168o	180o
IFE screen size	15.4″	18.5″

As you can see the A350 is the aircraft to go for, with not only a fully flat bed and direct aisle access, but also increased seat width and a much bigger IFE screen. Privacy is also by far the highest on the A350, which even has couple middle pairs at alternate rows, in case you’re travelling with a partner or friend.

Speaking of couples, those flying in Economy Class will probably prefer the A330, which have a 2-4-2 layout in this cabin, giving you a high chance of scoring a pair of seats by the window.

The A350 on the other hand has a 3-3-3 configuration in Economy on Asiana, with the exception of a single row of 2-3-2, offering just two real ‘couple’ options. Those are likely to get snapped up well in advance for this reason.

Redemption rates

Here are the award redemption rates using Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles to redeem on Asiana flights (Star Award) compared to SIA flights on this route.

KrisFlyer Saver Redemption Rates SIN to/from ICN (one-way)
		Saver	Advantage
Economy	27,000	27,000	45,000
Premium Economy	n/a	37,500	n/a
Business	52,500	52,000	70,000

One thing to bear in mind is that Asiana’s fuel surcharge means you need to part with S$202 in addition to the KrisFlyer miles outlay on a Singapore – Seoul one-way redemption, compared to only S$52 on Singapore Airlines.

At the time of writing, SIA has no saver award space from Singapore to Seoul in Business Class until 31st December 2022, while Asiana is offering partner redemptions in this cabin from 7th December 2022.

The new Asiana flights have only just been added to the schedule, so do keep checking back for award space regularly, since it may be added soon.

Asiana awards are available to search and book wholly online using KrisFlyer miles through the Singapore Airlines website.

All options for Singapore – Seoul flights

You’re not just limited to Asiana or SIA when planning a trip to Seoul.

In total there will be a record 75 weekly direct Singapore – Seoul flights during the upcoming winter season, as summarised below:

• Air Premia: 4/wk
• Asiana: 14/wk (from 1st December 2022)
• Korean Air: 21/wk
• Scoot: 7/wk non-stop + 1/wk via TPE
• Singapore Airlines: 21/wk
• T’way Air: 7/wk (including flat-bed Business Class)

Overall this is a significant capacity increase on the route compared to pre-COVID, when only four carriers operated 59 direct weekly services between them (Air Premia and T’way are the newcomers).

It’s hard to see how high loads can be sustained on this volume of services to and from Seoul now that Japan and Taiwan are reopening without quarantine, so let’s hope that leads to more award space being added in the weeks ahead.

Asiana is boosting its Singapore – Seoul schedule to double daily from December this year, representing 140% of its pre-COVID capacity on the route (138% by seat volumes).

In more good news, the carrier’s Airbus A350s are back on the Singapore route, with four times weekly service boasting the upgraded cabins including direct aisle access flat-beds in Business Class, a significant improvement on the A330s.

The news also means that by December there will be a record 75 weekly direct flight options between Singapore and Seoul, hopefully meaning award space on Singapore Airlines and Asiana begins to improve as local residents also get the option to travel to Japan and Taiwan in the coming months, perhaps shunning South Korea in the process.

(Cover Photo: Airbus)