Japan Airlines A350 First Class: Unbelievably Good!!!

Hello from New York, as I’m wrapping up my current review trip. I just had the chance to fly Japan Airlines’ Airbus A350-1000 first class from Tokyo to New York. This is a brand new aircraft for the airline, featuring an all-new passenger experience.

I had high hopes for this product, but even so, my expectations were exceeded by a long shot. I’ve been doing this for a long time, and it’s rare that a product really makes me go “WOW!” But that’s exactly what Japan Airlines did. This is an experience that pictures don’t do justice. Heck, I’m really excited to be heading home and seeing my family, but I didn’t want this flight to end.

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I’ve been lucky enough to fly just about all of the world’s best first class airlines, but Japan Airlines is really raising the bar. The only other first class hard product that’s comparable is Emirates’ “Game Changer” 777 first class, but I think Emirates may have been outdone.

My biggest complaint about the flight? No one else was drinking the 2013 Salon champagne, so I felt an immense obligation to polish off the $1,200 bottle, to avoid it being wasted, even though I’m not really a drinker nowadays. And I succeeded.

Below I wanted to share some initial thoughts on the experience, and then soon I’ll have a full trip report.

Japan Airlines’ A350 first class seats are unreal

Japan Airlines’ A350-1000 first class cabin has a total of six seats, spread across two rows, in a 1-1-1 configuration.

We’ve gotten used to the concept of first class suites with doors, but Japan Airlines has raised the bar. The suite could easily seat three people, as the seat is wide enough for two people (and then some), while there’s also a massive ottoman on which you can sit. In terms of functional personal space, this can only be outdone by Etihad’s The Residence.

Now, admittedly one might conclude that a double seat is a waste of space, since it’s not like you can book two (or three) people in one suite. But that’s where the thoughtful design shines. The seat back of the second seat lowers, to create a handy console on which you can place things during the flight. There’s even an armrest, so that the seat won’t be uncomfortably wide (I know, talk about first world problems!).

You might look at the entertainment screen and not think it’s remarkable, but that’s because the scale of the suite is lost in pictures. The entertainment monitor is a massive 43″ — for context, below is my 15″ MacBook Air next to the screen. You’re literally sitting in front of a big screen TV, and it’s wild — you could watch the Taylor Swift Super Bowl on here!

Watching the A350 tail camera on a 43″ screen while you’re flying is pure avgeek euphoria. It remains me of playing Microsoft Flight Simulator in my childhood, only ten times better.

The amount of storage at the seat is also unlike anything I’ve seen. Underneath the ottoman is a huge compartment where you can store your bags — it fit my overstuffed carry-on and backpack, with room to spare.

Then there are three additional storage compartments at the seat, so there will be no shortage of space to place your personal belongings.

All the seat’s functions can be controlled via a tablet and panel next to the seat, ranging from the entertainment functions, to the lighting in the suite.

In bed mode, this seat couldn’t be more comfortable. It’s so long and wide, and on Japan Airlines you get fantastic bedding. This is comprised of two pillows, a duvet, and your choice of a firm or soft mattress pad.

Also, while Japan Airlines’ A350 first class doesn’t have floor-to-ceiling doors (as you’ll find in Emirates’ new first class), the walls are 62″ high, so they do offer an incredible amount of privacy.

Lastly, I haven’t historically been a huge fan of Japan Airlines’ cabin finishes. In renderings, I thought the cabin looked kind of ugly. However, I have to say that the burgundy color looks a lot more elegant in person. So while this isn’t how I’d choose to design a plane, the cabin looks a lot better than I was expecting.

Japan Airlines’ A350 first class tech is phenomenal

Japan Airlines has incredible tech in its Airbus A350 first class. Where do we even begin?

Each seat has an unheard of seven charging options — two USB-A outlets, two USB-C outlets, two AC power outlets, and one wireless charging station.

Japan Airlines also has an unrivaled three options for enjoying audio through the inflight entertainment — you can use the provided Bang & Olufsen headphones, you can use your own headphones via bluetooth audio, or you can use the speakers that are built into the seat.

That’s right, Japan Airlines has speakers built into the headrest, so you can enjoy entertainment without even using your headphones. I’ll share my thoughts on that in a separate post, since I have enough to share here as is.

Japan Airlines’ A350-1000 is a pleasure to fly

Currently the world’s two best first class hard products are Emirates’ 777 first class and Japan Airlines’ A350 first class. So I think it’s important to emphasize what a difference the A350 can make to the passenger experience.

The plane is just so quiet, it has a tail camera (on a 43″ screen no less — SWOON!), and it’s pressurized so that your skin doesn’t feel as dry. As much as I don’t usually buy into marketing hype, I want to mention that I 100% believe that the 787 and A350 leave you feeling more refreshed. On this trip, all my long haul flights were on the 787 and A350, and for the first time in a long time, my knuckles don’t feel super dry, which otherwise seems to happen every time I take one of these wild trips.

Japan Airlines’ first class soft product is delightful

What’s not to love about flying with a Japanese airline? For one, you know service is going to be consistent and excellent, as was the case on this flight. The crew on this flight couldn’t have been better, and I was particularly impressed given that it was the entire crew’s first flight on the aircraft (this was only the plane’s second-ever flight to New York). There can often be a learning curve to new planes, but you wouldn’t have known based on the crew’s service level.

Japan Airlines’ soft product is incredible. The airline serves Salon 2013 in first class, retailing for $1,200 per bottle. Now, the airline only loads one bottle of this, which is a strange approach to take. However, when you’re the only one drinking champagne…

But Japan Airlines’ drink selection is impressive beyond that, including serving the most expensive non-alcoholic drink that you’ll find on any airline in the world, in the form of its Queen of Blue deluxe tea.

Japan Airlines offers both western and Japanese meals. I almost always go for the Japanese options on a Japanese carrier, but for the main meal, the western one sounded more appealing this time around (the Japanese menu was a bit too blowfish and herring based for my liking).

Fortunately Japanese airlines serve some of the best and most elaborate western meals of any airline, and this flight was no exception.

The meal began with an amuse bouche of goat milk bavarois.

Next up was an appetizer of shrimp and kobashira with quinoa.

Then there was yet another appetizer, comprised of vegetable and scallop mille-feuille.

Then there was the first main course, consisting of rockfish and winter vegetables a la nage, with a preparation you don’t often see on a plane. The fish literally melted in your mouth.

Then the second main course consisted of a beef sirloin with gratin dauphinois.

Lastly, for dessert was pistachio cream with chocolate cream puffs.

The quality was simply unmatched. No, this wasn’t like Emirates first class, there the star of the show is unlimited caviar, but here everything was so high quality and thoughtfully presented.

For the pre-landing meal, I had the Japanese option, consisting of salmon with lotus root and bok choy, steamed rice, miso soup, and black pickles.

Then I had the petit dessert tray.

Absolutely divine…

Where there’s room for improvement

As you can see, I’ve been raving about Japan Airlines’ A350-1000 product above, and for good reason. However, no product is perfect, so I want to be balanced, and share some areas for improvement.

To start, Japan Airlines has acknowledged that it’s not pleased with some of the work Safran did with the cabin finishes, as there have been many issues with the seats already, from scratches, to panels falling off. So while that has been widely reported, I have to say that I didn’t notice any issues whatsoever with the functionality of my seat. Then again, this was only the aircraft’s third commercial flight ever (I was flying the second A350-1000 to be delivered to Japan Airlines).

Here’s what I did notice in terms of potential areas for improvement:

• Japan Airlines’ entertainment system continues to be fairly limited in terms of the selection; however, between the tail camera and the free Wi-Fi for first class passengers, I was happy as could be
• There was an issue with the map feature, whereby it didn’t update correctly. Starting at about the halfway point of the flight, the map just suggested we were 8hr30min from arrival, with no additional updates
• There’s a tablet next to the seat that you use to control the entertainment, though I didn’t find the design to be terribly intuitive in terms of which buttons to push and when in order to make selections
• This is admittedly a very specific detail, but the lavatory doors slam loudly, so something needs to be installed so that they close more gently, and make less noise

These are all very minor points, but I want to be balanced, so there ya go…

Bottom line

I had high expectations of Japan Airlines’ new A350 first class, but despite that, they were exceeded. As I see it, this is without a doubt one of the two best first class hard products out there, along with Emirates’ 777 first class (and I’ll do a more direct comparison of the two in a different post).

Japan Airlines has taken personal space to the next level with its new first class, and the tech at the seats is spectacular. When you combine that with Japanese hospitality and amazing food and drinks, commercial aviation really doesn’t get much better than this.

What’s your take on Japan Airlines’ new A350-1000 first class?