Korean Air’s new lounges for Seoul, New York, LAX

Korean Air’s lounges have sometimes been described as looking like the waiting room at your local medical centre.

Now get ready for a breathtakingly elegant new take on Korean Air’s first class and business class lounges – one that’s closer to the executive lounge at Asia’s best five-star hotels.

That similarity is no accident: the airline’s lounge portfolio is now in the hands of David Pacey, a seasoned hospitality professional with over 35 years of experience in luxury hotels across Asia.

As Executive Vice President for lounges and inflight service, Pacey is working hand-in-glove with Chairman Walter Cho to elevate Korean Air into the same realm as global leaders like Singapore Airlines and Qatar Airways – “from being a Korean flagship carrier to an international carrier based in Korea.”

“I’d say previously there was not a lot of focus, not a lot of attention on the lounges,” Pacey told Executive Traveller on the sidelines of the unveiling of Korean Air’s new livery and corporate branding in Seoul this week.

Korean Air's David Pacey on lounges: "we want to totally shatter what we have previously done and take it to the next level,."

“But now it’s almost like an arms race” as airlines mount a ground war for the loyalty of premium travellers and frequent flyers.

“There’s so many beautiful lounges that are getting constructed all over, and I think it now is the right time for us to make our mark… I’m super excited about what we’re doing in lounge development.”

Concept illustrations sighted by Executive Traveller are decidedly upmarket, with a sophisticated ‘residential’ look which could set a new benchmark for airport lounges.

“We want to totally shatter what we have previously done and take it to the next level,” Pacey elaborated.

And to do that, Korean Air has enlisted Singapore’s LTW Designworks studio, whose specialist work in luxury hospitality interiors has shaped numerous Grand Hyatt hotels in Asia as well as the Four Seasons in Seoul.

New Korean Air lounges for Seoul

First up will be new flagship Korean Air lounges at Seoul Incheon Terminal 2 from August 2025, Pacey told Executive Traveller. 

In addition to the flagship Prestige Class business class lounge there’ll be a separate Miler Club Lounge for Prestige Class passengers who are also frequent flyers that have reached either Morning Calm Premium or Million Miler status.

“Then the current lounges will close, and they will reopen in April 2026” – with the stars of the show being “a brand new First Class lounge and a monster Prestige Class lounge.”

The airline describes its new Seoul first class lounge as “an elegant, refined environment offering sophisticated comfort associated with luxury hotel lounges.”

And the dining “will be all à la carte”, Pacey told Executive Traveller. “We won’t offer any buffet or live cooking station, it’s a very fine dining approach.”

As part of Korean Air’s US$1.3bn takeover of rival Asiana Airlines, Pacey said Asiana will relocate from Seoul Incheon Terminal 1 to Korean Air’s hub at Terminal 2.

New Prestige Class Garden Lounges are being built in both the east and west wings of T2 to cope with the shift in passengers, with a total of six lounges.

With an expanded Korean Air footprint across T2, “we’re going from 5,000m² of lounge space to 13,400m² of lounge space, and from just under 900 seats combined to over 1,600 seats”, Pacey said, “so we’re tripling the size and doubling the seating capacity.”

The Korean Air app will also direct travellers to the lounge that’s closest to their departure gate, Pacey said, and will take into account real-time data on crowd levels – although “you won’t have to use that lounge, but if time is an issue, you would use that lounge.”

New Korean Air lounges for LAX, JFK

Korean Air’s lounges at Los Angeles (LAX) and New York John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) are undergoing a total redesigns based around contemporary city-themed atmospheres.

Los Angeles will see new first class and business class lounges open in January 2026, with the total footprint to “double in size,” Pacey revealed.

June 2026 will see Korean Air cut the ribbon on an all-new lounge at New York JFK’s ‘The New Terminal One’, which like LAX will be twice the size of the current T1 lounge.

Fresh noodles and à la carte dining

Food will be a centrepiece of the Korean Air pre-flight experience, with “crazy amounts of live cooking stations in the lounges.”

This will include a signature noodle bar along the same lines as that of Cathay Pacific.

“Currently in all of our lounges, whether it’s in Korea or overseas, we still have cup noodles,” Pacey reflects.

“In the future, we will be synonymous with noodles cooked to order, Korean mandu dumplings or dim sum, and Gyeranjjim, which is a Korean egg soufflé.”

Each Korean Air lounge will also have a dedicated bakery and patisserie, offering fresh croissants, pizza, and desserts.

Also read: Korean Air confirms new first class suites

Sid Raja travelled to Seoul as a guest of Korean Air