In 2019, Japanese Star Alliance carrier All Nippon Airways (ANA) revealed an all new first and business class product. In this post I wanted to take an updated look at ANA’s progress with installing these new cabins, especially with the winter 2024-2025 travel schedule officially kicking off as of today (which is when airlines often make changes to their schedule).
In this post:
Basics of ANA’s new first & business class
All Nippon Airways’ new first class and business class products are truly spectacular. ANA has always had incredible service, and now the airline finally has a hard product to match.
All Nippon Airways’ new first class, known as “The Suite,” is phenomenal. The hard product as such doesn’t look that amazing, but it’s a huge improvement over the old product. First class has eight very comfortable suites, each of which is functionally designed and private. Personally I consider this to be among the world’s best first class products, thanks largely to ANA’s top notch soft product.
All Nippon Airways’ new business class, known as “The Room,” is really what’s most revolutionary. The seats have doors and an unreal amount of personal space. I consider this to be one of the world’s best business class products, along with Qatar Airways’ Qsuites and Japan Airlines’ A350 business class.
Which flights have ANA’s new first & business class?
While there are certain markets where All Nippon Airways consistently offers the new cabins, we have seen some variance. So let me share the basics of how many ANA 777s have the new cabins, how you can tell if your flight features the new cabins, and finally which routes currently feature the new cabins (though of course that’s subject to change).
How many ANA 777s have new first & business class?
All Nippon Airways has 13 Boeing 777-300ERs in its fleet. 10 of the 13 jets currently feature the new cabins, meaning that ~77% of ANA’s 777-300ERs have the new first and business class. Six of these planes have been delivered to the airline since 2019, with the new cabins, while four 777-300ERs have been reconfigured with the new cabins (these planes are 10+ years old).
Unfortunately ANA doesn’t have concrete plans to reconfigure the remaining 777-300ERs in the near future, so don’t expect this product’s footprint to grow much for the time being. ANA is expected to eventually take delivery of new 777-9s, which will likely feature this product (or something even better), though that’s still several years down the road.
If you want to track registration codes, the following 10 Boeing 777-300ERs feature the new cabins:
And in the interest of being thorough, here are the three Boeing 777-300ERs that feature the old cabins:
How can you tell if an ANA flight has the new cabins?
You can tell whether or not your flight is scheduled to feature All Nippon Airways’ new cabins just by looking at the seat map. The easiest way to tell is to look at the business class seat map:
- The new business class cabin has 64 seats, while the old cabin has either 52 or 68 seats
- If the business class cabin goes to row 20, then it’s the new business class; otherwise it’s the old business class
If you’re on ANA’s website and a flight is scheduled to be operated with the new cabins, you’ll also see the prominent display of “THE SUITE” for first class and “THE ROOM” for business class.
Another method to check without using ANA’s website is to instead go to Google Flights. Just search a business class flight on an ANA 777. When you look at the flight options, if a flight shows as having an “Individual suite,” then that’s the new business class.
Meanwhile if it shows as having a “Lie flat seat,” then that’s the old business class.
Again, it’s only select Boeing 777-300ERs that have these cabins. You won’t find these cabins on other aircraft, including 787s, A380s, etc.
Which routes have ANA’s new 777 cabins?
Here are the routes that are expected to be operated by the new Boeing 777-300ERS for the winter 2024-2025 schedule (which runs from late October until late March):
- Tokyo Haneda (HND) to London (LHR) for NH211/212 — all frequencies
- Tokyo Haneda (HND) to New York (JFK) for NH109/110 and NH159/160 — all frequencies
- Tokyo Haneda (HND) to Chicago (ORD) for NH111/112 — select frequencies, day of week variations
- Tokyo Narita (NRT) to Chicago (ORD) for NH11/12 — select frequencies, day of week variations
- Tokyo Narita (NRT) to San Francisco (SFO) for NH7/8 — select frequencies, day of week variations
In other words, as it stands, all flights to London and New York, as well as select flights to Chicago and San Francisco, will feature the new cabins for the winter 2024-2025 schedule. However, the new 777s aren’t flying on the above Chicago and San Francisco routes daily, so check the seat maps carefully. Houston, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Washington, are scheduled to be served by Boeing 787s.
There’s always the chance for last minute aircraft swaps, especially for later in winter, as ANA does tend to tweak its schedule.
Bottom line
All Nippon Airways introduced a phenomenal new first and business class in 2019, and the airline has rolled this out to ~77% of its 777-300ER fleet.
For the winter 2024-2025 schedule, you can expect the new cabins to be offered on all flights to London and New York, as well as on select flights to Chicago and San Francisco. While you’ll always want to check the seat map for changes or aircraft swaps, that’s the current plan.
If you’ve flown ANA’s new 777s, what was your experience like?
After trying both, I think I prefer the old J seat to the Room.
The footwell on the Room is a tad too small and short to have a comfortable fit there with my 6'0 size 11 shoe body.
nearly impossible to book the london route with miles...
How do you tell if the new J/F seats are forward facing or backward facing on the seat map ? (I prefer the seats that are forward facing)
At least on the website, the seats have little arrows pointing which direction the seats face and that's the side of the seat where your feet will go. The odd seats face backwards and the even seats forwards.
All F seats are forward facing.
Thanks for the update, such as it is considering I’ve been chasing ANA First award tickets. First I thought I’d try to snag new First on the flying Honu for this month’s trip, but only waitlisted, then same with JFK. So I punted and then found RT via Chicago with opportunity for first stay at O’Hare Hilton after positioning from DCA. Been wanting to stay since it was built, and opportunity for super and breakfast...
Thanks for the update, such as it is considering I’ve been chasing ANA First award tickets. First I thought I’d try to snag new First on the flying Honu for this month’s trip, but only waitlisted, then same with JFK. So I punted and then found RT via Chicago with opportunity for first stay at O’Hare Hilton after positioning from DCA. Been wanting to stay since it was built, and opportunity for super and breakfast with friends
A couple weeks ago my return got switched to the Suites. YEA!! So old over and new back! FUN!
Tokyo for the weekend using Intercontinental Ambassador cert at The Strings
BTW a Lufthansa first FRA to IAD award next summer got equipment switch without First, so now flying Swiss First. I think you might have tipped me off about this hack to get Swiss First! Thanks!
We just finished flying the old F cabin SFO-NRT then the new F HND-SFO. Obviously the new is much nicer but the two things I most appreciated were the ability to easily look out the window, which is surprisingly difficult in the old F, and the enormous TV in the new cabin. Frankly I didn't think I'd even notice that latter but it really was sweet, so much so that I stayed up most of...
We just finished flying the old F cabin SFO-NRT then the new F HND-SFO. Obviously the new is much nicer but the two things I most appreciated were the ability to easily look out the window, which is surprisingly difficult in the old F, and the enormous TV in the new cabin. Frankly I didn't think I'd even notice that latter but it really was sweet, so much so that I stayed up most of the night watching Lawrence of Arabia.
Would I make an effort to fly new F cabin? Yes, but is it that much better to get upset over if you don't get it, no. The food and impeccable service is what makes flying F on ANA such a treat and its the same regardless of which cabin you get.
Trackmyseat.com shows that ANA is fairly consistent in offering their new business class on most routes. However, the Chicago route can be a bit unpredictable, with NH111 showing a 72% chance of the new configuration over the last 30 days. Typically, they operate the older setup on Mondays and Fridays.
Interesting. My Friday ORD HND is old but a few days ago my Monday Dec 9 HND ORD now shows new Suites. Hope it holds
Safe travels
They ought to make the new cabin's colour palette standard across its fleet. The current colours not The Room/The Suite just looks sterile IMO.
I flew ANA's The Suite HND-JFK last May. Of course it was wonderful. But I deeply regret taking the evening flight because landing in JFK too late for a connection home, I had to hotel overnight. It's no coincidence that Award availability is harder on the morning flight.
ANA now has 13 B77Ws, 10 of which are equipped with new cabin and the remaining three with old cabin (JA790A, JA791A and JA792A).
@ NS -- Good catch about the two 777s being retired. Post updated to reflect that. Thanks!