How important is extra legroom on a plane? Extremely important, if the results of the AirlineRatings.com annual round-up of the best airlines across the globe is anything to go by. Korean Air has been named Airline of the Year for 2025, beating out last year’s winner Qatar Airways, in the Australia-based aviation safety and product rating agency’s official list of the top 25 full-service airlines. The South Korean flag carrier’s commitment to “passenger comfort” was cited as one of the main reasons for its triumph — both Korean Air and Japan Airline provide the most spacious economy class seating of any global airline. Korean Air was commended for maintaining its original seat configuration and prioritizing the needs of economy travelers. “While many airlines have added a 10th seat per row on 777 aircraft and reduced seat pitch in economy to 31 to 32 inches (down from the previous 32 to 33 inches), Korean Air has chosen not to follow this trend,” AirlineRatings.com CEO Sharon Petersen said in a statement.<br/>
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Korean Air has attributed a dip in its fourth-quarter passenger revenue to global supply chains that are still experiencing “ongoing recovery”, while maintaining profitability for the full year. In preliminary results released 7 February, the airline says its revenue for the passenger business stood at close to W2.37t ($1.64b), down 3% year on year. It did not elaborate on the precise nature of the supply chain issues, however. Apart from those challenges, Korean says the quarter is a “seasonal off-peak period”. However, it says it has “strategically” adjusted capacity in its network to tap into winter demand. Cargo revenues continued to grow – up 9% year on year to W1.2t – on volumes that largely remained stable, says the SkyTeam operator. For the October-December quarter, Korean posted an operating profit of W477b, more than double year on year. It also swung back to a net profit during the quarter, at W283b, versus a net loss of W235b a year ago. For the full year, Korean says its revenue hit a record high of W16.1t, up almost 11% year on year. Annual operating profit continued to improve, increasing 22.5% to W1.99t, while net profit was up 37% to W1.3tr. The SkyTeam carrier says it will work to “maximise revenue” during the January-March quarter, amid “sustained” long-haul demand and an “anticipated recovery” in the Mainland Chinese market. <br/>