Trip Report - Sydney To Seoul

[Grahame Hutchison]

Business check-in had three lanes operating so things moved quite fast. The customs and security Express Lane probably saved 20+ minutes, as the customs queue was reasonable long.

A quick stop at the TRS office to collect back the GST on the iPhone5, only a short queue but each refund takes a little time.

Asiana shares the use of the Air New Zealand Lounge which has a great outlook to the south from Gate 59. This lounge has a comfortable/traditional style, and has everything you would expect service wise - WiFi and a good selection of food and beverages.





While having a little extra breakfast, I saw our Asiana A330 arrive on Runway 16R, so we are going to be a little late departing this morning.



Sydney this morning is overcast and 18 Deg C, QNH 1014, with no rain at present and just a little wind.

Boarding was 20min late, seat for this flight is 2K, and the aircraft operating the service today is A330 HL7794, a September 2010 delivery to Asiana.

1025 Pushback from Gate 54 and taxi via Golf and Alpha as Air Asia X touched down.

1042 Held at Alpha 1 for only 2minutes, then lined up after the ANZ B777. The Emirates A380 is still at Jet Base after its engine explosion earlier in the week.

1042 Rolling on Runway 16R with a 50 second take off roll, and the flight duration today will be 10hr 30min.

After takeoff we tracked east of Cronulla and out to sea off the Royal National Park, before coming back to the right and heading towards the Blue Mountains.

1055 Seatbelt sign off and free to use electronic equipment, so I snapped a shot of the airport on the iPad2.



The Asiana Business cabin is configured with 5 rows of 2x2x2, but only 18 passengers this morning. The last time I flew with Asiana was back in 2001, when this service was operated by Boeing 767s. By contrast the A330 looks new for a 2 year old aircraft, and the Business cabin is very clean and fresh, with the seat pairs well appointed.

This was our track climbing out of Sydney on my AirNav RadarBox 3D - you can see a Virgin B737 crossing our path and slightly above


The Asiana amenities pack is basic but useful - IFE screen is large.




1108 Ordered the Beef for mains with a Rully Chardonnay.

1123 Lunch served

Smoked Salmon and Asparagus with a tasty Salsa


Prosciutto, Pumkkin, Pine Nuts and Fetta


Mushroom Soup which was absolutely delicious


Beef with Red Wine Jus, Whole Baby Carrots and Potato


Cheese and Fruit Platter with a Nut Bread


Orange Cake and Coffee - Excellent


And last but not least, a Petite Pastry


The lunch service was excellent, with all cabin crew very polite and attentive to your needs. I was asked how I enjoyed the meal and if there was anything else I needed.

1137 34000ft 372 miles out with 787 miles down and 4789 miles to run OAT -61.7F

Our track today is directly between Dubbo and Grafton, just west of Cairns and Cooktown, overhead the tip of Cape York then just west of Daru in Papua New Guinea. Then direct to the Eauripik Trench and a change of heading 30deg to the left and tracking for the Yap Trench.

1221 36000ft at 498 mph tracking west of Rockhampton OAT -56F with 4453 miles to run.

1259 Lunch service finished and water bottle provided.

1305 36000ft at 504 mph with 47mph headwind 1173 miles down and 4071 miles to run OAT -52.6F tracking back along the coast south of Cairns.

1319 Now just west of Cairns. It’s a little hazy today, but on a clear day this is a great flight, as it tracks along the Great Barrier Reef, which looks just magnificent.

1448 38000ft 537mph -58F with 3216 miles to run.

Finished watching "People Like Us" and now overhead western Papua New Guinea. The Asiana IFE works well, the screens are large and in the back of the pod in front, although the mouse is a little sensitive. There is a good range of movies and other entertainment.

1615 Light snacks offered by the cabin crew.

1645 Also watched "To Rome With Love", Woody Allen at his best, or is it worst, I never know.

1655 38000ft 535mph -59.8F 3188 down and 2108 to run.

1838 For a little bit of action I watched "Haywire".

1840 38000ft at 507mph OAT -61.6F 4099 down and 1202 to run. Now tracking direct to Kumamoto in Japan and Incheon Seoul.

[Grahame Hutchison]

1919 Dinner service, which was excellent and a little lighter than lunch. Better to have the main meal up front, so it doesn’t sit in the galley for hours.

Scallop salad


Chicken Breast with Potato and vegetables


Fruit and coffee


2033 Dinner service finished.

38000ft at 490mph OAT -67F 5031 miles down and 308 miles to Seoul.

Tracking just west of ***uoka in Southern Japan and turning slightly left towards Busan at the southern tip of South Korea, and then onto Incheon.

2056 Moderate turbulence as we descend into Incheon. There have been quite a few sections of light turbulence throughout the flight, with cabin announcements, particularly from North Queensland onwards.

2105 The stars are out and the lights of South Korea are in sight. A left turn over central South Korea to start our approach into Incheon.

2115 The lights of Suwon can be seen out to the right as we head back towards the eastern coastline.

2125 Touchdown on Runway 34 then taxi via November to the Gate. A Korean Air A380 is on a standoff bay as we taxied in. I noticed that the windsock was horizontal and pointing straight down the runway.

There were only four customs officers for the foreign passengers, so just a little slow to get through. Luggage claim was quite fast, I was even ahead of our crew retrieving my bag.

A lovely young lady from the Intercontinental Hotel was there to greet me, and she wanted to know whether she should say good afternoon or good evening. Outside the terminal, my driver was waiting, and I was hoping we would go via the Incheon Bridge, which is 21km long and was on Mega Structures a few weeks back.

Comfortable limo with a slight middle stretch


Unfortunately we took the traditional route into Seoul, and the traffic was quite slow at times on the freeway. Closer in the freeway follows the Han River, and the last time I was in Seoul, it was frozen over, the first time in 30 years

Apart from work on Tuesday and Wednesday, I have Sunday and Monday for a look around.

Sunday in Seoul was beautiful sunshine and blue skies, with the temperature ranging between 2 and 6 deg C – you needed a good jacket walking around. From my hotel window I can see the Olympic Stadium, and I spent the whole day walking around the local area, north down to the Han River and west to Gangnam. I had thought of going up to the DMZ to look at the border with North Korea, but I left it a bit too late to book. I thought I could manage it on the Monday, but unfortunately it was raining, and would not be so good. The COEX Conference and Exhibition Centre next to the hotel is very well done, and the shopping mall below is the largest in Asia at 85,000sq mtr - very easy to get lost. Overall there is some interesting architecture to be seen in Seoul.

The COEX Centre




The HDC building - the Olympic is about half a kilometer behind this building


A common style of high rise appartments in Seoul


Crossing the Han River to the north side of Seoul


On Monday I rode the subway to Yongsan, two trains on the Green and Blue line, where I visited the Electronics Market. This area has five multi-level buildings with 5000 stores, with every camera, laptop, PC, mother board, LCD lighting etc you can think of, you name it, they had it. On the way back on the subway, I got off at Gangnam, and had a look at the shopping. On street level there are many brand name and expensive stores, while down in the subway station, there are hundreds of small market like stores, selling good merchandise a better prices. I kept an eye out for Psy, but I think he was performing in Paris. The Seoul subway is excellent, and the trains clean and safe. When you buy a ticked there is a 500won deposit, which you can claim when you get off (this is because they reuse the tickets).

Amazing architecture at Gangnam




It was only three stops on the subway back to the Hotel for a rest, then off again to have a look at a tall statue I can see from my hotel room. This turned out to be the Bongeun-sa Buddist area, where they were preparing for a lantern festival. The end of Autumn colours were beautiful in the gardens.



A beautifully constructed building housing two large drums with suspended hammers




Now for a couple of days working, and then back to Sydney on Korean, it will be interesting to see how they stack up against Asiana, which I would have to say was excellent.

[David C]

Thanks for posting Grahame .. Another very comprehensive and interesting trip report as is your usual . How did you manage to eat all that lovely food ? .. I think I would have needed to have been carried off the plane with all that onboard . Beautiful presentation and very yummy ..

Dave C

[Jim M]

Grahame,another fantastic and very informative trip report with your usual "attention to detail" in there as well.

Thanks for posting

Cheers
Jim

[Grahame Hutchison]

I was talking to our local GM in South Korea about going up to the DMZ. He told me he was up there last Sunday (when I thought about going), doing some fly fishing. It was -5 Deg C and the line was freezing to his rod.

[Kieran Wells]

Fantastic report Grahame. Ive had a friend recently return from there who spent 9 months teaching english.. Loved the culture..

[Grahame Hutchison]

Seoul - Sydney Korean Air 21/11/2012

Apologies in advance for the low quality images - the iPad2 camera is not so good in poor light.

I was unsure of the traffic conditions out to the airport, so I decided to depart the Hotel at 1500 for the flight departing at 1915. It can take up to two and a half hours from the city to the airport, depending one the traffic. As it turned out, the traffic was ok once we got out of the city area, and I was checked-in by 1700.

My driver dropped me off right at the Korean check-in entry door, and I was able to use the First Class desk. Security was the traditional bag scan and personal scan, and the customs lines were quite fast moving. No documentation neded to be completed, you just presented your Passport and Boarding Pass. This is a fairlynew terminal, not sure when it was built.

As you walk out from customs, you enter a long concourse of duty free shops, and the Korean Lounge is upstairs at Gate 11, looking directly down on the Gates and apron.


Gate lounge directions



The Korean A380 HL7615 was parked at Gate 10, I think this is number three in their fleet. The lounge is quite comfortable, with a range of seating options, open areas, private booths of four seats, and workstation benches looking down on the apron, or duty free shopping. Free high speed WiFi is available.


The entry to the Korean Lounge


The front of the Korean Lounge looking down on the apron.


The food and beverage area is in a walk behind partition, and has a good selection, including a number of packaged noodle varieties that just need hot water. The real surprise was in the Bathroom, where there was a remote control on the wall for the toilet. You could adjust the seat temperature up/down, and there were settings for Adults, Children, Elderly, Auto, Bidet and Spray.

1845 Boarding on time and my seat is 18K on the Upper Deck, which is configured with three rows of 2x2 forward and aft of the emergency exits. It is looking very quiet tonight, with only five passengers on the Upper Deck from 24 seats. This will be the quietest Upper Deck ride I have even had. The Cabin Crew are extremely polite, offering a drink and nuts once settled in. The FSD came upstairs and spoke to each of us individually, welcoming us on board, and giving a few flight details (9hr 31min flight duration today).

A very quite Upper Deck



1922 Menus handed out and orders taken for Dinner and Breakfast.



The weather this evening is overcast, smoggy and QNH 1018.

1933 Pushback from Gate 6 which is at the end of the long Terminal concourse which starts at Gate 6 and ends at Gate 132. On our left we have an Asiana B767, and on our right was Korean B747-400 HL7472 at Gate 7, Korean A330 at Gate 8, and the Korean A380 HL7615 at Gate 10. Our pushback was circular and through more then 180 degrees, taking us almost around to Gate 10 behind the A380. When the starboard engines started there was a massive cloud of smoke or condensation in front of the engines.

1943 It was a very short taxi on Golf to the Holding Point, Runway 33L.


The Captain announced that we are number five in the departure queue, expecting to roll in about 10 minutes.


1953 Rolling on Runway 33 with a takeoff roll of 49 seconds. As we climbed out we made several turns to port, finally heading back over the coastline south of Songdo and towards central South Korea.


2010 Climbing through 23,942 feet at 961kph with a 120kph Tailwind.


Fragrant hot towels were provided and tables set for dinner.


The Korean Air amenities pack.


Captain announced our arrival time in Sydney would be 0725, and flying conditions should be smooth tonight.

Our two female Cabin Crew are dressed in a traditional style, with Cream Trousers, Green Silk Blouse and a Bone Scarf tied with large bows. Their hair is in a tight bun with a large bone hairpin. While serving they wear a fitted white apron that matches the traditional look. A really beautiful looking uniform.

Dinner served

Tyrels Moon Mountain Chardonnay


Plum in Pomegranate Vinegar



Fetta Cheese, Sliced Fig and Parma Ham with Green Salad and Bread Roll.



Lentil Cream Soup which was delicious.



Grilled Beef Steak with Herb Cream Sauce served with Parmesan Potatoes, Mushrooms and Mixed Vegetables.



Comte, Chaumes and Saint Andre Cheese with Fruit and Strawberry Haagen-Dazs Icecream. The three cheeses were excellent.



Then black Coffee

Watching "Peace, Love and Misunderstanding".


The Cabin Crew are extremely polite, just a little difficulty with language, but not really a problem.

Comparing Asiana and Korean, I would definitely give Asiana the edge, the quality of the meal was a couple of steps up, and they paced the service well, where Korean seemed a little rushed (maybe this was to give passengers more time to sleep). While the Asiana A330 was new, clean and well appointed, the Korean B747-400 Upper Deck is a great cabin experience and remains my favourite. I still have a soft spot for the "Queen Of The Skies".

2050 So much for the smooth conditions, first a few sets of mild turbulence, then a couple of sets of severe turbulence, with cabin service suspended. The water was bouncing out of the glass, and even when I tried to hold the glass in my hand, the water was still splashing out.

Our track so far has been down the South Korean peninsula and overhead Saga in Japan, heading 160 degrees.

2125 Water Bottle and Mineral Water Spray provided.


2145 32,965ft 959kph with a 128km headwind and 4016 miles to run.


2232 Time now for some sleep now. The seat is firm but comfortable, but does not quite recline to a flat bed. Two pillows and a blanket allowed for a good sleep.

0454 Woke for Breakfast over northern NSW after tracking via Cairns - again there was some more turbulence during breakfast.


The main breakfast tray



Finishing breakfast with fruit.



0500 Tracking over a converging contrail slightly below.


0508 32949ft north west of Cessnock at 641kph with a 48mph headwind.


0522 Completed one orbit west of Cessnock and then a personal thank you from the CSM and Cabin Crew.


0524 West of Lake Macquarie and a slight right turn at 8000ft and 541 kph with a tailwind 29kph with 38 miles to run.


0526 A slight left turn to pick up the previous heading.


0528 Descending into cloud at 3000ft and 319kph with a 29kph tailwind.


We were out of the cloud east of the Silverwater Bridge.


0534 Now on final for Runway 16R


0536 Touchdown, vacating on Alpha 3 and taxiing via Alpha and Golf to Gate 59.


0542 Shutdown


I had 40,000 Korean Won left, so I stopped into Duty Free and used it to but some alcohol. The customs queues were quite long, with even a dozen or so ahead of me in the Priority line. Bag collection was reasonable quick, and customs directed me to the "Nothing to Declare" lane, and I walked staright through. My taxi driver was waiting in the arrivals hall, and the traffic back to the city was quite bad between 8 and 9am. I was home by 0930 and back in the office again by 1100.

A busy 5 days, sorry I missed the DMZ Tour, but Seoul was again a great experience.

[Michael Cleary]

As I have also taken a short trip to Seoul (from Taipei), I'll add a short report here rather than creating a new thread. Unlike Grahame (who was presumably being funded by his employer), I travelled in Economy Class and took the Bus to/from the Airport.

21/12/12 - TPE-ICN CX420 - B772 B-HNL

Only when writing this have I found that this Aircraft is Line #1 - the first Boeing prototype apparently!!! And I didnt get a photo either!!!

Flight time was 2:05 and being just on sunset when we departed not much to see. Loading in Economy was about 80%, and from what I could see, less than 50% in Business. The routing took us from Taipei to over Jaeju Island, thence up the west coast of Korea to Incheon with quite a display of lights below for the last 30 minutes or so. Landing was on 33L, which was surrounded by snow.

Cathay use the Satellite Concourse (the Gates numbered in the 100 series) so its a trip on the underground people mover (like in Zurich for instance) to get to the main terminal. Immigration lines were short, but slow, and sadly the baggage was even slower coming out - about 45 minutes after getting off the Aircraft.



I stayed in the Gangham area, and also visited the huge shopping mall under CEOX as well and the area up near the City Hall, Palace etc. What struck me was how modern Seoul is - clean and tidy, but Extremely COLD - the maximum was below zero in my 2 days there, and was -12 when I departed to the Airport at dawn on Monday. Very little wind, some snow about (it snowed a day or so before my arrival), but at least the sun shone - cover up everything with several layers, couldnt do much about the face, which felt like it was snap frozen. Like Grahame, I didnt do the DMZ tour, it was too cold, and also about $150 if you go the whole hog and go right to the border village (which is the ultimate idea of course).

24/12/12 - ICN-TPE CX421 - B773ER B-KQC

In contrast, this Aircraft was the newest in the Cathay fleet, and to my surprise I found that the seat was in the Premium Economy section - though sold as Economy and no hint on the seat layout when selecting. As the Aircraft had apparently sat at the gate overnight, there was a layer of ice on it, so we paid a visit to the de-icing bay on the way out to Runway 34. There is presumably a very important rule for pilots departing in the 33/34 direction - do NOT TURN RIGHT after takeoff - as doing so would have you over North Korea in a few minutes (you can actually see it after takeoff).

The trip back was along the same route, though being daylight and cloud free the coast (under white snow blanket) could be seen - lots of development there. Loading on the return was about 50% in Economy and less than 10% in Business (I could see only 3 seats occupied).

A few photos:

De-icing before departure



Lots of Asiana to see



Australian Coal (presumably) being burned to keep Korea warm



Cathay PE seating (2-4-2 layout, 4 rows)

[Grahame Hutchison]

Seoul is definitely a bit cold at this time of year, however I would have to agree with Michael, a safe, clean and modern city, great airport and subway system. Huge changes since my last visit in 2001.