It would appear that Japan Airlines has plans to introduce an all-new business class product on its Boeing 787s, including those already in the fleet, and those to be delivered in the future. Let’s discuss what we do know, as there are still more questions than answers.
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Japan Airlines Boeing 787 cabin retrofit project announced
Boeing has just put out a press release revealing that it will be partnering with Japan Airlines to upgrade the cabins of its Boeing 787-9s. For context, Japan Airlines currently has a fleet of 55 Boeing 787s (23 787-8s and 22 787-9s), and the airline also has 10 more 787-9s on order. Per the announcement:
Boeing and Japan Airlines (JAL) announced an agreement to upgrade the interiors and in-flight connectivity on eleven 787 Dreamliners.
The modifications will be performed by Boeing and will introduce JAL’s latest cabin interior design to existing 787-9s in the JAL international fleet, bringing them into alignment with the design and configuration of JAL’s planned deliveries of new 787-9 airplanes.
As you can see, the idea is that the interiors of 11 existing Dreamliners will be updated, so that they’re in line with the planned interiors for 10 upcoming Dreamliners. While I think we all assumed that Japan Airlines would introduce new interiors on its upcoming 787s, there has been no such announcement up until this point.
The plan is for Japan Airlines to transfer roughly half of its 787-9s to low cost subsidiary ZIPAIR as it takes delivery of new 787-9s, so it sounds to me like all 787-9s might eventually feature the updated cabins (while nothing will change on the 787-8s).
It’s not surprising to see the oneworld airline investing in its Dreamliners, especially with Star Alliance rival All Nippon Airways also rolling out new 787 business class seats.
What new business class seat will Japan Airlines select?
For context, Japan Airlines currently has two types of business class seats on its 787-9s. Roughly half of the planes have Apex Suites, which are marketed as the Sky Suite II. These cabins are in a 2-2-2 configuration, but are much more comfortable and spacious than some people might assume (I rank this as being among the world’s 10 best business class seats).
Meanwhile roughly the other half of the 787-9s have Safran Aries seats, which are marketed as the Sky Suite III. These are reverse herringbone seats in a 1-2-1 configuration, and unfortunately they’re surprisingly tight, among my least favorite reverse herringbone seats out there.
So, which new business class seat will Japan Airlines select? The press release suggests it will “introduce JAL’s latest cabin interior design” to these planes. Japan Airlines’ latest cabins are on the Airbus A350-1000, where you’ll find the incredible Safran Unity seats.
Some people might interpret this to mean that the planes are getting Safran Unity seats, though I wouldn’t count on that. It’s possible, as those seats can be installed on the 787, but I suspect “latest cabins” just refers to whatever might be planned for upcoming 787s.
Since Japan Airlines is partnering with Boeing on this project, is it possible the airline just selects the Elevate Ascent seat? This is the generic new reverse herringbone seat with a door that’s specifically designed for the 787, and it’s increasingly popular, with straightforward certification? It sure seems to me like that’s what we could see, but who knows…
Anyway, we’ll mark this as “developing” for now, and should learn more in the near future.
Bottom line
Japan Airlines plans to introduce new cabins on its Boeing 787-9s, including a new business class. This will apply to 11 existing Dreamliners, plus the 10 additional ones that are on order, so we can expect the entire 787-9 fleet will eventually have these seats.
The airline hasn’t yet announced what seats we should expect, though, so all we can do is speculate. I’ll be sure to report back when we learn more.
What do you make of Japan Airlines introducing a new 787 business class?
It's frustrating to me that both ANA and JAL have huge 787 fleets but are so stingy on retrofits. In my opinion, JA needs to retrofit all of their long haul 787s, including the -8s, with this new interior, especially the planes with those old angled flat seats. And ANA has a million different 787 configurations, I believe they either need to retrofit all international -9s and -8s with the new Room FX or at...
It's frustrating to me that both ANA and JAL have huge 787 fleets but are so stingy on retrofits. In my opinion, JA needs to retrofit all of their long haul 787s, including the -8s, with this new interior, especially the planes with those old angled flat seats. And ANA has a million different 787 configurations, I believe they either need to retrofit all international -9s and -8s with the new Room FX or at least come out with a second still direct aisle access flat bed product for their medium haul -8s (or all -8s) and maybe some -9s too.
Some of JAL and ANA's 788s are from 2012-2013. While it won't make much financial sense, the next best thing would be to transfer some of their outgoing lie-flat seats on the 788s. They still have some life left.
I seriously worry that SKysuite II is going away because this is my fav seat, i don't even mind being in SKysuite II instead of their business class seat on A350. But I understand Skysuite II really takes space so airlines hate this seat...So sad...At least I hope JAL introduces something similar to the new ones on A350
Should we expect the Y cabin to be retrofitted to 9 abreast as well ?
Likely losing abrest or 34' Pitch, could be both....
My problem with JAL is that I always find the cabins too hot. And maybe it was just bad luck, but on each occasion I had no personal vents to use for cooling.
Rather disappointed that 787-8’s Shell Flat Neo is not being retrofitted with the new configuration. Those business class seats are the ones in desperate need of upgrade as they are relics of early 2010 decade and are uncompetitive to say the least.
The original Sky Suite (with the staggered seats) was the best of the three Sky Suite variants in comfort and seat adjustments. Very flexible between lounging and sleeping positions and everything in between.
It didnt have much privacy for aisle seats and aisle access from windows seats were a bit of a challenge. Especially at the bulkhead. Far superior to the similarly aging SQ seats with the angled foot cubby hole.
SSIII with the herringbone...
The original Sky Suite (with the staggered seats) was the best of the three Sky Suite variants in comfort and seat adjustments. Very flexible between lounging and sleeping positions and everything in between.
It didnt have much privacy for aisle seats and aisle access from windows seats were a bit of a challenge. Especially at the bulkhead. Far superior to the similarly aging SQ seats with the angled foot cubby hole.
SSIII with the herringbone pattern was the worst.
Sometimes, a retrofit may not result in an improvement because there are always compromises between seat comfort and flexibility, amount of space, storage and privacy.
LH solution of tiered seats to address this is the worst of all possible solutions.
Some of the oldest 788s are about 13-14 years old or so, so it does not make sense to retrofit them now. But I was thinking, they could transfer the outgoing product onto the earliest 788s and keep them in service for a few more years to maintain consistency, but just like the situation over at CX, there's more to it than logistics and cost, not to mention having to recertify the aircraft and product all over again.