All Nippon Airways (ANA) is the only remaining airline that has the A380 on order but doesn’t yet have a single one of the aircraft in their fleet.
ANA only placed the order for the A380 in late 2015, and they really only did so under pressure, as Skymark had placed an order for the A380 but went bankrupt. In order for ANA to take over Skymark’s slots at Tokyo Haneda, they took over the order for the planes, since Airbus was one of Skymark’s creditors.
ANA has three A380s on order, and they’ll be taking delivery of the planes next year. While most airlines fly the A380 in major business markets, ANA will be flying their A380s in one of their most popular international leisure markets — between Tokyo Narita and Honolulu exclusively.
In April we learned the exact configuration of ANA’s A380. The planes will feature a total of 520 seats, including:
- 8 first class seats
- 56 business class seats
- 73 premium economy seats
- 383 economy seats, in a 3-4-3 configuration on the lower deck
ANA’s A380 seatmap
ANA’s A380 first class
They’re really putting a lot of emphasis on these new planes, as the airline is also building a special lounge at Honolulu Airport, which will offer direct boarding to the plane.
ANA’s new Honolulu Lounge
Then in late November, ANA revealed that they’ll begin flying the A380 between Tokyo Narita and Honolulu as of May 24, 2019.
The airline will initially operate the A380 3x weekly (departing Japan on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays), and then they’ll increase to 10x weekly flights as of July 1, 2019. So while we’ve been able to guess which flights are most likely to get the A380, today ANA has officially published which flights will feature the new A380s.
Specifically, as of May 24, 2019, the following flights will be operated by the A380:
NH184 Tokyo Narita to Honolulu departing 8:20PM arriving 8:40AM
NH183 Honolulu to Tokyo Narita departing 11:30AM arriving 3:00PM (+1 day)
From May 24 through June 30, 2019, the flight will be operated by the A380 on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. Then starting July 1, 2019, the flight will be operated by the A380 daily.
On top of that, as of July 1, 2019, the following additional frequency will be operated by the A380 on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays:
NH182 Tokyo Narita to Honolulu departing 9:35PM arriving 10:10AM
NH181 Honolulu to Tokyo Narita departing 12:45PM arriving 4:00PM (+1 day)
So while we now officially know which flights will be operated by the A380, the A380 is officially only going on sale as of January 10, 2019. If you book one of the above flights in economy, premium economy, or business class, you can expect it will be operated by the A380. However, since the route is currently operated by the 787, there’s no way to book first class on it just yet.
If you want to learn more about what you can expect in terms of the onboard service, check out ANA’s press release. They talk about how they’re “unveiling comprehensive in-flight services” for the route. For example:
- Those traveling in first class between May and August 2019 will have access to a special menu from “Noe,” the Italian restaurant at the Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina
- ANA is upgrading their premium economy meals for the first time (usually it’s the same as in economy), so will offer better choices
- A Blue Hawaii Cocktail will be served in all classes
- Flight attendants will be wearing special Flying Honu aprons, and all drinks in economy will be served in special Flying Honu cups
Anyway, there’s nothing in the press release I find terribly interesting other than the exact dates, but there are a lot more details, if you’re interested.
Bottom line
ANA will begin commercial service with their A380s in May 2019, and you can expect the flight to formally be on sale with the A380 as of January 10, 2019.
ANA’s A380 onboard product doesn’t actually look like that much of an upgrade compared to their other aircraft, though if you’re like me and want to fly every A380, that won’t stop you from getting on this flight. 😉
Now I just need to figure out how to do it, given the lack of award space.
Do we know if
NH 181 (77W now) will switch to 388 in the future?
thanks.
Miles and More + Krisflyer Miles turned out to be fantastic value for this one. I booked
NRT ICN ROR ICN in Y for 40.000 M+M
ICN NRT in C & NRT HNL in F for 62.000 M+M
HNL SFO in Y for 12.000 KF miles
Aloha. Catching up on my reading over the holidays. I fly ANA every month between HNL to HND or NRT business or premium economy. The 787's are packed and I can see the allure of the 380's but I wonder can customs handle such large groups in Honolulu? Flights already overwhelm arrivals most week days.
JAMCO supplies the first class seats. The articles below are in Japanese but there are pictures of the first, business, premium economy and economy seats.
https://www.aviationwire.jp/archives/161763
https://www.aviationwire.jp/archives/161742
https://www.aviationwire.jp/archives/161701
My guess is that UA discontinues HNL-NRT and relies on the JV with ANA when the A380s come on board.
I think I read somewhere (in Japanese) that they will be doing a special promotion for the first flights, opening up all seats for awards if booked via ANA miles. At least for economy.
https://www.traicy.com/20181227-NHa380camp
It looks like economy and premium economy only :( But 1 in 100 people will get all the miles back. For flights from 5/24 to 7/11.
With 3 A380s, ONE of these will be operating on other non Hawaii routes.
If they go double daily to Hawaii (thats a ton of capacity over current 2x daily 787) so then one A380 is left to do some mid haul within Asia. SIN, HKG etc. IF they stick to just 10x per week then we will see a daily LHR or LAX on the A380 is my prediction.
I'm happy to be wrong,...
With 3 A380s, ONE of these will be operating on other non Hawaii routes.
If they go double daily to Hawaii (thats a ton of capacity over current 2x daily 787) so then one A380 is left to do some mid haul within Asia. SIN, HKG etc. IF they stick to just 10x per week then we will see a daily LHR or LAX on the A380 is my prediction.
I'm happy to be wrong, but that third A380 has to go somewhere 3x daily A380 service to HNL I just cant see it...BUT who knows, perhaps NH will kill off everyone else with the Japanese loving the latest and the greatest.
Not sure there is a market for First and Business on this route. Admittedly its a long time ago but in 1994 i flew Northwest 747 from Honolulu to Osaka. Thought it strange when i was only person at check in. Told i was only passenger they were checking in for that flight as everybody else traveling in groups. At gate lounge about 300 people. Realised i was the only non Japanese passenger! On boarding...
Not sure there is a market for First and Business on this route. Admittedly its a long time ago but in 1994 i flew Northwest 747 from Honolulu to Osaka. Thought it strange when i was only person at check in. Told i was only passenger they were checking in for that flight as everybody else traveling in groups. At gate lounge about 300 people. Realised i was the only non Japanese passenger! On boarding the crew upgrade me to an empty Business/First! Nobody else in premium cabins!!!! Fantastic flight. Seems most Japanese travel in groups rather than as individuals
@Mo - Yes. I flew HA F in a flatbed directly from HNL to NRT, and I believe HNL-HND routes also use flatbeds.
But ANA’s investment at HNL is great to hear. Hopefully, award travelers like myself can finally take a Japan carrier directly from HNL to Japan on miles instead of only having JAL award flights from LAX-NRT. Sitting for an additional 2500 miles one way to LAX just to catch the Japan leg is not ideal.
It looks like in first class that you can actually look out the window or talk to seatmate, unlike the current version. And there’s a door at each seat! So far, great upgrades already..
We just went on a tour of the Airbus Hamburg Finkenwerder setup today and got to see the ANA A380 in the final fitting out hangar. It looks beautiful and such a vibrant paint job. The 2nd one was also under construction. An exciting addition for ANA.
With NH bringing 3 A380s in house, its obvious that one of them is going elsewhere. NRT-HNL eats up 1.5 frames of capacity per day.
Perhaps a HKG, SIN turns would make sense and its already outfitted for premium routes... subbing on odd flights to LHR, LAX and JFK when demand could make it work. Not daily, but it could be very interesting, especially for marketing purposes. NH 380 will go to many places, watch.
@Charles @Sam Source below (in Japanese though). The fact that only runway C can handle the A380 (with a restriction of 8 flights during night time), and the spacing constraints make it difficult to handle A380 for now.
https://www.aviationwire.jp/archives/125063
And not to mention the already crowded ANA lounges until they move to the new Terminal 2. May be things will change a bit when the move happens, but at least it’s somewhat unlikely...
@Charles @Sam Source below (in Japanese though). The fact that only runway C can handle the A380 (with a restriction of 8 flights during night time), and the spacing constraints make it difficult to handle A380 for now.
https://www.aviationwire.jp/archives/125063
And not to mention the already crowded ANA lounges until they move to the new Terminal 2. May be things will change a bit when the move happens, but at least it’s somewhat unlikely that people will change their mind when ANA receive their 3rd A380.
@Charles
Indeed that's the reason why HND does not allow the A380. Also the wake that the A380 cause could hinder the operations at HND. This came to light when airlines like LH got slots at Haneda and transfered their flights there from Narita and consequently stop plying the A380.
The A380 and B747-8 actually require the same amount of spacing (remember the drama of LH, EK launching A380 flights to Delhi, or was...
@Charles
Indeed that's the reason why HND does not allow the A380. Also the wake that the A380 cause could hinder the operations at HND. This came to light when airlines like LH got slots at Haneda and transfered their flights there from Narita and consequently stop plying the A380.
The A380 and B747-8 actually require the same amount of spacing (remember the drama of LH, EK launching A380 flights to Delhi, or was it India).
Apparently the new Terminal could handle the A380. In October this year an A380 flew to Haneda for testing.
@Charles I think the issue is that they will only have 3x A380's in their fleet, It would not make sense to have a single plane on the HND route and the other 2 at NRT. If an issue occurs, then since usually one of the planes is a spare, if one is in for maintenance or required checks
To those saying that Haneda cannot handle the A380, can you provide a source? The one source I read indicated that it doesn't allow A380 for daytime operations due to increase spacing required and resultant congestion. But that it could be used in the late night operations, which can work for flying to/from HNL.
@Joey
No need to worry. Visited Honolulu in January, March, June, November and December in the last two years, Japanese tourists (esp. in Waikiki) were as populous all the time.
Meanwhile, I wonder how JAL's daily KOA-NRT flight and HA's 3-weekly KOA-HND flight are doing. From my 10+ times of visit to Hawaii, Kona seems to be the only place outside of O'ahu that's been attracting Japanese tourists, but I'm not sure if it could sustain 10-weekly flights...
Dakine, is that flatbed on HA?
This is great. I launch a trip to Asia from HNL each year; would love to use ANA first class booked through Virgin on this... hope they have a little availability.
@Lucky - you should look at more of Hawaiian's long haul routes, they have some cool ones. As you know they are not the most amazing value... but I am flying flatbed direct from HNL to CTS (Sapporo) for 65k miles. Definitely worth 10k+ miles extra for the convenience of a direct flight like that.
@lucky - what is ANA couch?
Can't wait to see the First calss cabins in pictures. Looks like Darth Vader's cabin!
I have a bunch of M&M miles so I'm hoping they will have some availability. ANA is usually wide open, but obviously this will be a special route.
Will *G get ANA access at HNL?
Haneda is not capable of handling the A380 - the expectation is that they will eventually discontinue the Haneda Honolulu route and shuffle the slots by a bit.
hello
ANA from NRT is twice ANA day.And from HND is once.
A380 will be located only in NRT.
HND cannot have capacity for A380 so far.
I love ANA
from JAPAN
You're right it is an extremely popular destination but I'm curious whether it will still be popular during the summer (given it's warm/hot in Japan during that time.)
I'm planning to be in Asia in late summer (August) so hopefully some award seats will be open then since just like you (and thanks to your blog), I've flown on every airline that operates an A380!