The flight from Seoul Incheon airport to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam followed a special event in which the Korean carrier gave out gifts and special commemorative cookies.

The flight, KE 683, featured a special video showcasing the route 50 years ago as well as a parade by flight attendants demonstrating the changes in uniform design over five decades.

Flight attendants parade vintage uniforms to celebrate 50 years of international flying. (Photo: KAL).

The plane also sported the 50th-anniversary emblem for the flight and was accompanied by former flight attendants.

The carrier was established on March 1, 1969, when Hanjin Corporation was given the right to operate the previously government-run Korean Air Lines.

The first route was part of a more ambitious plan to gradually extend its  Southeast Asia routes to Europe through the Middle East but also to boost national pride by opening a route to the US.

The route linking Seoul to what was then Saigon had been in the pipeline since the Korean Air Lines days and there had been other international routes under government ownership.

But Ho Chi Minh was the first route to be established by the fledgling Korean Air.

The Vietnamese government was lukewarm about the service because it did not have reciprocal rights that allowed its airlines to fly to Seoul.

These doubts were overcome by representations from a Hanjin executive based in Vietnam and the Korean ambassador.

From there, the airline continued to grow rapidly and became the first Korean carrier to start a regular service to the US with a Seoul-Tokyo -Los Angeles freight route in 1971.

In April 1972, the airline began fully-fledged passenger service to the Americas, with its Seoul-Tokyo-Honolulu-LA route.

Today, the SkyTeam alliance partner operates international routes to 111 cities in 43 countries and more than 460 flights a day across its network.

Cre: Steve Creedy – Airline rating

Nguyen Xuan Nghia – COMM