See also: Stewart Germann's review of Korean Airlines

The plane: A Dreamliner Boeing 787-9 Korean Airlines with six First Class seats, 18 Business (which Korean call Prestige Class) and 247 Economy seats

Class: I was in seat 7C in Prestige, away from the window.

Price: $3003.

Flight time: It took 11hr 35m. We left on time at 4.50pm local time and landed at Auckland at 8.32am (late, there was quite a lot of turbulence en route) the next day.

My seat: My seat was spacious and private in a configuration of 2-2-2. There was a lie-flat bed which was very comfortable indeed.

Passengers: A mixture of European and Korean in Prestige but Economy was predominantly Korean and Chinese.

Entertainment: An excellent hand-held smorgasbord of movies and TV shows with a large screen. I watched Hotel Mumbai, the true story of the terrorist attack on a railway station in Mumbai, and The Intruder with Dennis Quaid. It was scary. The service: Impeccable and polite and the crew were caring and came around frequently.

Food: I had a beer with boiled scallop and spicy orange sauce during the predinner service followed by an appetiser of smoked salmon with mozzarella cheese. For the main, exquisite seared black cod with dill lemon cream sauce served with fingerling potato and seasoned vegetables. For dessert I had HaagenDazs strawberry ice cream. There was a good selection of wines but I zeroed in on New Zealand Clos Henri Sauvignon Blanc 2015 which was wonderful. Toilets: Four at the back which were very clean and pleasant.

Luggage: 32kg with two bags per person.

Airport experience: Incheon International Airport at Seoul is impressive and modern. We left from the huge and immaculate Terminal 2.

Lounge: Very spacious with a nice selection of food and wines.

Would I fly Korean again? Yes as the planes look new and the crew were consistently helpful and supportive. However, Air New Zealand is scheduled to start an Auckland-Seoul-Auckland service at the end of November with three return flights per week so let the battle for lower fares begin — nothing like competition!