Hello from New York, as I’ve wrap up my review trip to South Korea and Japan! I just flew Japan Airlines’ Airbus A350-1000 business class, on the 12 hour flight from Tokyo (HND) to New York (JFK). I’m happy to report that I’ve saved the best for last.
Japan Airlines is currently refreshing its long haul fleet, replacing 777-300ERs with A350-1000s, featuring all-new cabin products. I’ve already reviewed the carrier’s new A350-1000 first class, which I rank as being among the best in the world, and I was excited to check out the new business class.
Japan Airlines is the launch customer for the Safran Unity seat, and eventually this is a product we’ll find on many other airlines, ranging from Air India to Qantas. This seat is phenomenal, so this is something to look forward to as well.
When you combine that with the general attributes of the A350, the free Wi-Fi, the amazing tech, the flawless Japanese service, the delicious food and drinks, and the great bedding, I’d consider this to be one of the best business class products in the world.
With that in mind, I wanted to share some initial thoughts on the experience, and then soon I’ll have a full trip report.
The Safran Unity seat is a stellar product
Japan Airlines’ A350-1000 business class cabin consists of a total of 54 seats, spread across 14 rows, in a staggered 1-2-1 configuration. As I said, Japan Airlines is the launch customer for the Safran Unity product. I’ve gotta say, this exceeded my expectations, and I think this is the best new “generic” business class seat out there.
There are a bunch of different staggered products out there, but there’s so much to love about this product. It’s more spacious than any other staggered seat I’ve experienced, and the amount of storage is on a completely different level.
As you’d expect in a staggered configuration, some seats are closer to the aisle, while others are closer to the windows. I was in a “true” window seat, which is definitely the coziest setup. The first thing you notice is just how spacious the suite feels. It feels remarkably more spacious than many other staggered products out there, like the Vantage XL seat, for example.
For one, seats have doors that are 52″ high, which are the same height you’ll find in Qatar Airways Qsuites. These are among the highest doors in business class, so they really do afford quite a bit of privacy.
The footwell in these seats is huge as well, so I didn’t at all find myself feeling restricted in bed more, unlike in some other comparable products. This is easily one of the most comfortable business class beds in the sky.
This seat also takes storage to the next level. There’s a large storage space underneath the ottoman, big enough for a large backpack.
There’s a dresser behind a shield, where you can hang clothes during the flight.
There’s a compartment where you can store shoes during the flight.
Then there are two additional compartments where you can store items, to the side of the seat.
Well done to Japan Airlines, and well done to Safran, because this is an awesome seat!
Japan Airlines’ great tech & free Wi-Fi- in business class
Many of the advancements we’ve seen with business class seats in recent years have involved better tech.
For one, each seat has USB-A, USB-C, AC, and wireless charging options.
Then in addition to being able to use a headphone jack, there’s also bluetooth audio, as well as in-seat headrest speakers, which I wrote about in detail when I flew in first class.
Each seat also has a gorgeous high definition 24″ monitor, where you can enjoy the entertainment library, or otherwise keep an eye on the tail camera (my favorite kind of inflight entertainment).
Japan Airlines’ library of movies and TV shows honestly isn’t great, and it’s the one major area for improvement. However, the airline does offer free Wi-Fi in business class nowadays, with no data caps, and to me that’s more valuable than a good entertainment selection (actually connecting to the free Wi-Fi is a comically complicated process, though).
Japan Airlines’ business class food, drinks, and amenities are outstanding
Japan Airlines offers excellent amenities in business class, including a pillow, blanket, and mattress pad. I find the bedding to be very good — it’s cozy, without being uncomfortably warm. While it’s frustrating how the airline doesn’t have individual air nozzles, to my surprise, the cabin wasn’t actually kept very warm.
Food and drinks on this flight were very good as well. After takeoff, there was the choice of a Japanese or western meal, and I selected the former.
Service began with some candied nuts, a sundried tomato dip, and breadsticks, served with a choice of drinks. I had a glass of Delamotte Brut, which is the carrier’s current business class champagne.
The first course consisted of… well, I’ll just post the menu, since it’s kind of complicated, and I love the simplicity of these menus, in terms of showing where exactly each dish is.
The next course consisted of stewed beef cheek with Japanese mustard spinach, grilled salmon, deep fried lotus root and carrot, curry, miso soup, and rice.
For dessert there was a red bean dish, plus some green tea.
There’s then a flexible dining menu for the rest of the flight. So before landing I had the truffle omelet sandwich, which was a delightful surprise, I must say… yum! It was one of my favorite egg dishes I’ve had on a plane.
While perhaps a strange combo, I then had the falafel salad, which was also tasty.
Last but not least, I enjoyed some Haagen-Dazs ice cream.
All-in-all, the food on this flight was delicious!
Japan Airlines’ business class service is very good
After a couple of flights on Korean Air, I was honestly very happy to be back on Japan Airlines, as I find the service to be in a completely different league. The service on this flight was attentive, detail-oriented, and incredibly friendly.
Flight attendants were proactive with clearing empty dishes, removing plastic wrappings, offering drink refills when glasses or bottles were empty, etc. The crew also kept the lavatories spotlessly clean throughout the flight.
I have nothing but great things to say about the service, and that’s something you’ll get more consistently on a Japanese carrier than just about any other airline.
Japan Airlines’ A350s have some wear & tear issues
Now let me share what I’d consider to be the one negative surprise of this flight. Despite being less than a year old, Japan Airlines’ A350-1000s are showing some serious wear and tear. Japan Airlines is the launch customer of the Safran Unity product, so I imagine this partly comes down to some of the kinks not being worked out.
For example, when you look at the area to the front of the seat and to the side, you’ll see it’s badly beaten up, in a way you wouldn’t expect for a new product.
Why is this? Well, the mechanism by which the tray table extends needs to be modified a bit. If you just push the button to release the tray, it’ll naturally slam into the side of the seat in front, which is where all these marks are from. You need to put effort into it so that this doesn’t happen.
I have to imagine that this is something that will be worked out. They either need to rework the mechanism by which the tray extends, or put some sort of a “pad” against the hard surface on the other side of the seat, so that it doesn’t get marked up like this.
Next, I’ve never been a huge fan of Japan Airlines’ heavy use of red, or burgundy, or whatever this is. But I’m finding that the seat material is already showing some wear and tear and discoloration, in a way you wouldn’t expect for such a new product.
Bottom line
I’m so happy I had the chance to fly Japan Airlines’ new Airbus A350-1000 business class. This product is incredible, among the best business class experiences in the world. Japan Airlines really has elevated the passenger experience on its new flagship jet, and I’m so happy to see this development.
For that matter, I’m delighted I finally had the chance to fly in the Safran Unity seat, as I’m now even more excited that this is a “generic” seat that we’re going to see on other airlines.
Well done, Japan Airlines… very well done! I’ll soon have to update my rankings of the world’s best business class airlines and best business class seats.
What do you make of Japan Airlines’ new A350 business class?
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