ANA announced today that they will be launching service from Tokyo Narita to Seattle and San Jose on their new Boeing 787 aircraft. The service is supposed to start on April 1, 2012, though I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a bit of a delay there.
While the Airbus 380 is an amazing plane, as I found out from flying it in Qantas first class, it really doesn’t add anything in the way of new routes, since for the most part it instead leads to the consolidation of fights and reduction of frequencies. So aside from marginally more comfortable cabins, I’d say it’s a negative for consumers on the whole.
And that’s the beauty of the 787. It leads to new routes and more frequencies, thanks not only to how much lower the operating costs are, but also thanks to how small the plane is. ANA only has 158 seats on their 787s, 46 of which are business class.
I already have a business class seat booked on a Japan Airlines 787 for next May, from Tokyo to Boston, using American miles. That being said, their business class product is nowhere near as good as ANA’s.
These flights aren’t bookable yet, though as soon as I see them loaded I’ll be sure to post, especially since I suspect we’ll see some award seats loaded as well, at least initially.
Does ANA no longer release their F seats from SFO or LAX?
Defly great news for us PDX travelers...Thanks for posting this Ben!
How bout them trip reports you promised a while back???
@ reeder -- US Airways charges taxes on ANA redemptions (as always), though not fuel surcharges. You never know when they'll change their mileage charts, though. If you'd ultimately be willing to use miles for something else, I would suggest buying them now, as you never know when they'll offer the 100% bonus next.
Love having more options out of Seattle, though I wish AA still flew SEA-NRT, which was dropped right after 9/11.
SJC-NRT has been tried before and it never really worked out for AA.
I wonder if ANA will do better with this route with the 787.
There's lots of differences between now and then. The runways are longer. AA had to limit pax and cargo to avoid a fuel stop in Oakland. AA at the time had sort of a mini hub in San Jose, but they have since abandoned that.
Certainly for ANA, out...
SJC-NRT has been tried before and it never really worked out for AA.
I wonder if ANA will do better with this route with the 787.
There's lots of differences between now and then. The runways are longer. AA had to limit pax and cargo to avoid a fuel stop in Oakland. AA at the time had sort of a mini hub in San Jose, but they have since abandoned that.
Certainly for ANA, out of SJC, they will mostly have to rely on O/D.
But it's a nice option for us and anybody looking for more award space out of the Bay Area.
I am SOOO excited for this! I want to go to Japan in spring of 2013 to see my cousin who will be stationed there in a few months!
ETA: Just want to know if I should get more now and top off in Q1 or etc. And with recent changes, US Airways will be charging taxes on the new mileage charts for ANA reward tickets, correct?
From Seattle Orginally! This is a big win on the SEA - NRT service. NWA (now DL) has always had 1 - 2 flights a day on this route and needless to say the 787 is a step up from the a330/767 delta uses on this route!
@ reeder -- They're offering one right now through December 31. You can read more about it here: https://onemileatatime.com/when-to-buy-miles/
Boom! Love this news.. now we just need UA to restart SEA-HKG when they get their 787s.
Could you post when US Airways did their buy miles promo? I might just have to buy some just for this.
@ Dan -- It sure will!
So that means *A will have 8 F, 116 C seats going out of SEA to Asia (NRT/ICN) every day next year? Plus an extra 46 out of the Bay Area? And those new C seats will be ANA Staggered, the same ones EK uses on the A380, and OZ uses on their new planes?
Wow.
You know, if LH's C seat ends up being as good as US's or CX's, suddenly, I'm seeing less...
So that means *A will have 8 F, 116 C seats going out of SEA to Asia (NRT/ICN) every day next year? Plus an extra 46 out of the Bay Area? And those new C seats will be ANA Staggered, the same ones EK uses on the A380, and OZ uses on their new planes?
Wow.
You know, if LH's C seat ends up being as good as US's or CX's, suddenly, I'm seeing less and less reason to spend the extra miles for F. Yes, the FCT is amazing. Yes, caviar is cool. But at a nominal value of 2 cents per mile... there's lost of things I could spend $600 on to upgrade my travel experience that don't involve having to whine at US DM phone agents about long sells.
Will the ANA 787 be configured in the new Business staggered?