South Korea is one of those destinations where the flight itself can be the start of a genuinely good experience. Korean Air and Asiana Airlines both operate product quality in business and premium economy that exceeds most Western carriers at comparable prices, and even economy on these carriers tends toward the upper end of the long-haul quality distribution. This is worth noting because it changes the trade-off calculus when a Korean flag carrier is competitive on price versus a less comfortable indirect routing.

Incheon International (ICN) is the primary entry and one of the best airports in the world by operational standard: immigration is fast, the transit mall is well-organised, and the AREX train to Seoul city centre takes forty-three minutes and costs KRW 9,500 (approximately £5.50) — the best airport-to-city connection in the country. Gimpo (GMP) is the secondary Seoul airport and handles domestic Korean routes plus short-haul connections to Tokyo, Osaka, and a few other Japanese cities; international visitors occasionally use it as a secondary connection, but it is not the primary entry.

From London, economy return to Seoul runs £550-£800 in non-peak months. The peak summer window (July-August) and the Christmas-New Year period push fares to £800-£1,100. Korean Air and Asiana both fly direct from Heathrow in ten to eleven hours; British Airways codeshares on the Korean Air route. Indirect options via Helsinki (Finnair), Frankfurt (Lufthansa), or via the Middle Eastern hubs frequently price £50-£150 below the direct fare. The autumn (September-November) and spring (late March to May) windows are both excellent for Korea travel and correlate with the lower-fare end of the calendar.

From New York, Incheon is served by Korean Air, Asiana, Delta, and United. Economy returns typically run $600-$900 for most of the year. The Korean carrier direct fares from JFK or LAX are often the best combination of price and product quality on this route — worth checking on Aviasales before defaulting to a US carrier.

South Korea is a natural add-on to a Japan itinerary, and the intra-Asia routing from Tokyo to Seoul is cheap and quick. Japan Airlines, Korean Air, ANA, and Asiana all fly the Tokyo (NRT or HND) to Seoul (ICN) route in under two hours; fares from $80-$150 one-way are routine with advance booking. Including Korea in a Japan trip without returning to Europe between them is a worthwhile routing — price the London-Tokyo-Seoul-London multi-city fare on Aviasales against separate tickets, and the multi-city often comes out cheaper.

Aviasales handles the Korea multi-city and open-jaw searches well and surfaces both Korean Air and Asiana fares that the individual carriers’ international booking interfaces can price inconsistently. For a Japan-Korea combination trip, the three-city search (London out, Tokyo, Seoul, London back) is the correct starting point. Kiwi.com is useful for building in the intra-Asia leg between Japanese and Korean cities as part of the overall itinerary pricing. Book long-haul legs direct with Korean Air or Asiana if either comes out competitive — both have reliable direct booking processes and strong frequent flyer programmes worth accumulating on a repeat Asia traveller’s calendar.