Asiana Airlines OZ551/OZ552 Review 2026: Istanbul Economy Flight Experience

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Asiana Airlines Economy Review: In-flight Meals, Seats, and Baggage

Since I finally took a break from work, I decided to head to a place I've always dreamed of visiting—

#Türkiye!

I'd always kept an eye out, telling myself I must go to Türkiye during my time off.

And guess what? Right after the holidays, a special deal popped up!!!

So I snagged a round-trip Asiana flight in the ~$320 range! ✈️

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⬇️ Trip.com Flight Discount Booking Link ⬇️

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Incheon - Istanbul OZ551

Boeing 777-200LR

(Though ours was delayed by 2 hours...)

Flight Duration: Approx. 12 hours

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📌 1 carry-on bag (up to 10kg) and 1 checked bag (up to 23kg) are free for Economy!

📌 2 meals + 1 snack served in-flight

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Since Asiana still operates out of Terminal 1,

I arrived early and breezed through check-in!

But then, guess what?

Even frequent Asiana flyers around me said they'd never experienced a delay like this...

Due to a mechanical issue, we were delayed for 2 hours—meaning we were stuck inside the plane for a whopping 14 hours total, including flight time lol.

If they had told us before boarding, I would've understood,

but they did this after we were all already boarded 😭

(And to top it off, the official system logged it as a 1-hour 52-minute delay, so we couldn't even claim travel insurance. Absolute legend.)

The economy cabin had a 3-3-3 configuration.

The seat and the headrest were actually quite comfortable.

A pillow, blanket, toothbrush, toothpaste, and slippers were waiting at the seat.

Set them all up and you're ready for instant sleep mode!

After seeing those sleek, modern touchscreens on other airlines,

looking at Asiana's old-school screen was a bit of a reality check.

(Seriously, tickets aren't cheap—please upgrade the interiors already! 😭)

You can get a rough idea of where you are on the flight path.

(Please upgrade the map to 3D...

and let us manually zoom in so we can see exactly what we're flying over! ㅠ)

📌 On the bright side, they have both USB ports and multi-outlets (plug sockets), which is great.

Since there are no USB-C ports (which can be tricky nowadays), you can just plug your standard charger directly in.

📌 First In-flight Meal

I had the Bulgogi Ssambap (Korean lettuce wraps) and it was absolutely delicious.

Asiana seriously knows how to do in-flight meals right!

They even thoughtfully included instructions on how to wrap the ssambap for international passengers.

So thoughtful!

Since I absolutely love white wine, I had a glass of wine and it was delicious!

For dessert, the rice cake was so tasty 🍡

There weren't too many movies to choose from,

so frequent flyers seemed to have pre-downloaded their own dramas and shows.

📌 Snack

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The mid-flight snack was a chicken panini.

It was served piping hot, and the cheese was perfectly melted and stretchy.

The delicious aroma filled the cabin—the kind of smell that wakes you up instantly from a deep sleep!

📌 Second Inflight Meal

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We had a choice between fish or meat.

My mother-in-law and I ordered different options, so I managed to snap photos of both!

The second inflight meal was pretty decent.

Since I love mashed potatoes, I found the fish and potato dish to be much better!

After enjoying some beer with my meal,

I'm not much of a coffee drinker, but they had black tea, so I happily had that for dessert.

🔗 Trip.com Flight Discount Booking Link

Istanbul to Incheon (OZ552)

Boeing 777-200LR

Duration: Approx. 10 hours

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📌 Free Baggage: 1 carry-on (10kg) and 1 checked bag (23kg) for Economy!

📌 2 Inflight Meals

After wrapping up our amazing trip, it was time to fly back from Istanbul to Incheon!

Surprisingly,

📌 on the boarding passes at Istanbul Airport,

the boarding gate is not printed!

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So you have to check the flight information screens in real-time.

Otherwise, if the gate changes suddenly, you could easily get lost in the airport and miss your flight.

Thankfully, Asiana Airlines kindly sent a gate update via KakaoTalk!

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This flight also featured a 3-3-3 seating layout.

The inflight amenities provided were exactly the same.

📌 First Inflight Meal

I chose the bibimbap, and the meal was seriously so well-prepared!

All the vegetables were incredibly fresh and delicious.

Of course, I paired it with some white wine,

and enjoyed a chocolate bar for dessert!

📌 Our Second In-Flight Meal

I had the beef rice bowl half-asleep, but the beef pieces were so massive I ended up leaving a little bit.

I was really craving something refreshing, so the fruit tasted absolutely amazing! 😭

What looked like yogurt was actually a delicious pudding, and they even served it with a muffin—such a great spread!

Our return flight arrived safely with zero delays! ✈️

Still struggling with jet lag, writing this legendary post in the middle of the night... haha 😭

Seriously, everyone needs to visit Turkey... go once, then go again! 💖

⬇️ Discount Flight Booking Link on Trip.com ⬇️