Korean Air continues to evolve its brand with new 787 interiors

Korean Air is a fairly iconic brand. Its timeless baby blue and white liveries are instantly recognisable. There are very few airlines that can boast such an identifiable ‘blue’ livery. And while the logo itself is somewhat reminiscent of the Pepsi logo, this Taegeuk has a much deeper cultural meaning within Korea stemming back hundreds of years, and as such, is truly iconic.

The airlines’ uniforms and cabin interiors, with their toothpaste minty colour paired with a pearlised white is also a standout colour palette, but these colours have circa 1990’s Miami Beach vibes, and are just a few shoulder pads away from being stuck in a time warp. So it’s no surprise that the airline is looking to refresh its brand image, albeit the jump from where it was to where it is going, might be a leapfrog too far in our opinion.

Korean’s rush to the common denominator

In 2022, Korean Air received its first A321neo which featured an entirely new cabin aesthetic, with dark greys in business class and a more vibrant red and blue pattern in economy. The contrast from the existing pastel cabin interiors couldn’t have been more marked, and while there were no other brand developments seen since then, it could have been marked up to an interiors project gone off track.

However, with the recent subtle introduction of a new Prestige Class 2.0 seat for the 787-10 fleet (just shown on the website rather than officially announced) there might be a larger brand repositioning afoot. The new seats feature a similar design aesthetic to the A321neos, which hints at a marked approach to the new interiors for this airline.

The new business class seats are certainly impressive, and it’s not fully clear which hard product this is, as it has been pretty heavily customised, but it’s following the usual expected cues for today’s business class. All-aisle-access, doors, large screens, but more interestingly, the colour palette references a sea of airlines in Asia opting for a darker grey base.

Perhaps, most noticeably, there are a lot of design cues from Starlux (on the left) at play here. The GUI features a dotted line graphic, the seats have stitching details which don’t look out of place in Starlux, and obviously the trim and details do feel similar to the Taiwanese carrier too.

Will it just be cabins?

Normally a brand wouldn’t introduce a new design aesthetic and colour palette for one element without it branching out to other touch points too. While there’s been no official reveal of a new brand, it’s interesting to see the airline did file a trademark application for a newer, contemporary logo design back in 2022, the same time the A321neo interiors came to life. It’s fairly clear that the airline is looking to update its brand, something that’s probably been borne from the impending Asiana and Korean Air merger.

This merger always intended for the two brands to run separately until the end of 2024, although again, nothing has been officially announced about the merger of the brands just yet.

I’m personally hoping that this darker, subdued (dare i say, boring) dark-grey cabin aesthetic acts as a contrast for vibrancy and colour that can be injected through soft finishes, uniforms, and amenities which will help Korean stand out and have a point of difference for the years to come.