Lounge Check
Stewart Germann visits the Korean Airlines Skyteam business lounge inside Incheon Airport, Seoul
Arrival: I was greeted by a pleasant woman who scanned my boarding pass and waved me in. The lounge in Terminal 2 is located on the first floor of departures — there are two, being the east lounge and the west lounge and I visited the east lounge by gate 258 as my flight was leaving from gate 267 nearby.
The architecture: Very modern with many configurations of furniture and the lounge was huge. I sat in a soft armchair, which was very comfortable, with a table next to it. Food: A good mixture of hot and cold and my favourite were the tuna and egg rolls which were fresh and delicious. There were many hot foods including noodles and a variety of cheeses. The drinks cabinet: There were two beers on tap, a local beer and Budweiser. You take a cold tankard from the fridge, put it on a shelf in a machine and push the button of choice. The machine roars into action, raises and tilts the glass just like a barman would do and the beer pours to the top and stops, the machine lowers the glass and voila — a fresh cold beer with not a drop spilled. Excellent Korean technology just like Nokia and Samsung products, which are made in Korea. There were also a variety of white and red wines plus coke, sprite and water. Reading material: Not good, except for the New York Times. The bathroom: Spacious, very clean and a nice smell.
Who’s there: Lots of locals plus Europeans and some very well-behaved children. Many people were sitting with their eyes closed having a doze. Lounge atmosphere: Serene and relaxing and not like the current Air New Zealand lounge at Auckland airport, which seems to be very full and tiring and hard to find a seat in.
Bottom line: A pleasant surprise in a city of 10 million people with daily traffic jams that make Auckland look like a picnic — I really enjoyed my 75 minutes in the lounge before a 11.5-hour night flight to Auckland.