Korean Air is prepraing to begin the second phase of its extensive refurbishing plan in all mid and long-haul passenger flights by equipping them with next generation premium seats. Investing $200 million, Korean Air will upgrade a fleet of 32 passenger flights deployed on mid and long-haul routes from this September to March 2011 by attaching next generation premium seats. The airline will also refurbish a fleet of 38 new aircraft such as Boeing 777-300ER to be delivered late in May, and Airbus A380s and Boeing 787s, environment-friendly next generation aircraft.

Korean Air completed the first phase of its extensive refurbishing plan for a fleet of 26 planes, including Boeing 777-200s and Boeing 747-400s last year. Once the second phase is complete in 2014, the airline will hold a total of 96 planes with the new high-end facilities. Next generation premium seats, consist of Kosmo Suites in First Class, Prestige Sleeper in Prestige Class and New Economy in Economy Class, will be unveiled when the airline accepts new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft late in May.

Kosmo Suites – Korean Air named its First Class next generation premium seat as Kosmo Suites. Kosmo Suites, designed by Acumen, a world renowned design company based in the UK, was created with the discerning taste of Korean Air’s VIP customers in mind. The wood colored seats help bring a touch of the natural world in to the cabin while the 180 degree lie-flat beds have been 15cm (6 inch) widened to 67.3 cm (26.5 inch) to provide passengers with added comfort. Korean Air is also enlarging its individual monitors to 58.4 cm (23 inches) to enhance the airline’s state-of-the-art AVOD (Audio Video On Demand) system. With one-touch controllers and big-sized screen type partitions, Kosmo Suites ensures discreet privacy for each customer while bringing in-flight enjoyment to new heights.

Prestige Sleeper – Korean Air’s new Prestige Class seats, named as Prestige Sleeper, feature 180 degree lie-flat sleepers and 188cm (74 inch) seat pitch, and are 36 cm (14inch) wider than Prestige Plus, the current Prestige Class seats, offering customers the level of comfort normally reserved for First Class at other carriers. The new individual monitors are 12.7cm (5 inch) enlarged to 39cm (15.4 inch) to deliver the full excitement offered by the AVOD system on board. Also, private partitions and one-touch controllers are featured to provide the private space customers demand, be it for catching up on paper work or for some quite relaxation on board. New Economy – New Economy, ergonomically designed new Economy Class seats, contains 5.6cm (2.2 inch)-enlarged individual monitors which now measure 27cm (10.6 inch).

source: Asia Travel Tips