Almost at the same time as another Pacific region carrier, Qantas, Korean Air announces it is ready to further power up its flights to Manila. A new service is joining the Korean flag carrier’s network in the month of November 2024 aboard one of the airline’s most modern aircraft.
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Korean Air Launches a New Fourth Daily Flight From Seoul to Manila
The Seoul to Manila route offers travel options to both business and leisure travelers. Many Korean business have interests and assets in the Philippines. Also, the warm weather and tropical beaches of the island country attracts many tourists from Korea particularly during the cold winter months.
Therefore, it’s unsurprising that demand for flights on this sector has pushed the South Korean carrier to prepare to launch a new additional daily service to Manila’s NAIA.
KE619 will be the flight number for the additional service Korean Air will start on November 24th 2024. A launch date just ahead of the December high season for travel during the winter holidays in much of the world.
KE619 will become the airline’s late night service from Seoul Incheon to Manila with a departure time at 21:40. This timing, along with serving point to point traffic, is primarily thought to cater to passengers arriving from the US on Korean Air flights and transiting in ICN towards the Philippines.
| Flight Number | Departure Airport | Airport Code | Departure Time | Arrival Airport | Airport Code | Arrival Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | KE619 | Seoul | ICN | 21:40 | Manila | MNL | 01:05+1 |
| KE620 | Manila | MNL | 02:20 | Seoul | ICN | 07:25 |
For those not accustomed to Seoul Incheon international airport, all Korean Air flights operate exclusively out of Terminal 2. Which, in my opinion is also the nicest of the two terminals present at the airport.
Flying Aboard One Of Korean Air’s Most Advanced Aircraft?
I just had to add the question mark at the end of that headline for one simple reason. The airline states in its press release that the additional KE619 service between Seoul and Manila will be aboard the its new Airbus A321neo. However, me being me, I just made a search for the flight on its first day of operations November 24th 2024 and currently the Korean Air site shows it will be operated by a much older Boeing 737-900ER.
The A321neo are some of the newest pieces of equipment present in the airline’s fleet. They are taking over many of the medium range routes which don’t have enough demand to justify using a much larger A330. The Korean Air A321neo feature a two class cabin setup with:
- 8 lie-flat business class seats in a 2-2 layout over 2 rows
- 174 economy class seats in a 3-3 pattern filling the remainder of the aircraft.
However, if the flight actually ends up being operated by a Boeing 737NG, then business class passengers will no longer have access to lie-flat seats. The will have to “put up” with recliners for the just over 4 hour journey from Korea to the Philippines.