I consider Korean Air a jewel of the SkyTeam alliance. Not only does Korean Air have a good Business Class product (reviewed here), but they also have a First Class product that you can book by transferring Chase Ultimate Reward points to the Korean SkyPass program.

The airline has recently announced plans to add a flight to the Maldives starting on March 9th, 2013 and the award availability looks pretty good. The flight will operate three times weekly on an Airbus A330. In addition, they are switching out their A380 on the Atlanta to Seoul route starting January 1, 2013. UPDATE: Looks like Korean Air has delayed adding their A380 to the Atlanta Seoul route until late spring of 2013.

So if you were looking to go to the Maldives or try out Korean Air, the new route to the Maldives may be a good option, even if only one way.

Flight Schedule

The inaugural flight leaving Korea on March 9th, 2013 leaves Seoul Incheon at 10:40 PM and arrives into Male, Maldives at 6:40 AM after a brief stop in Sri Lanka.

The inaugural flight leaving Male, Maldives on March 10th leaves MLE at 3:30 PM and arrives into Seoul Incheon at 6:10 AM after a brief stop in Sri Lanka.

Award Availability

The outbound flight on March 9th, 2013 is showing award availability in First Class and Coach Class according to ExpertFlyer. There appears to be 2 First Class award seats, 3 upgradeable Business Class seats and no coach award seats.

The return flight on March 10th, 2013 is showing award availability in First Class and Coach Class according to ExpertFlyer. There appears to be 3 First Class award seats, 9 upgradeable Business Class seats and 9 coach award seats.

Korean Air’s award chart shows that an off-peak round-trip flight to Maldives from Korea requires 100,000 miles in First Class and 115,000 in a First Class Kosmo sleeper or suit. A round-trip flight to the Maldives from North America requires 190,000 miles in First Class and 210,000 in a First Class Kosmo sleeper or suit.

A one-way ticket only requires 50% of the round-trip price.

Bottom Line

The new Korean Air flight to the Maldives, through Sri Lanka, is a great addition to SkyTeam route network.

If you are looking for Chase Ultimate Reward points consider the Chase Ink Plus Business Card offers 50,000 bonus points after $5,000 spend within 3 months, the Chase Ink Bold Business Card offers 50,000 bonus points after $5,000 spend within 3 months, or the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card which offers 40,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months.

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