In April 2025, All Nippon Airways (ANA) announced plans to overhaul the cabins of its international Boeing 787-9 fleet, with the project expected to start in 2026. The airline has 35 of these jets, with an additional 27 on order.
I want to provide an update, as we have some more details of what we can expect from the new business class product, even though the specific seat hasn’t yet been revealed.
In this post:
ANA’s new 787 premium economy & economy
ANA will be partnering with RECARO to introduce new premium economy and economy seats throughout the long haul Boeing 787-9 fleet.
In premium economy, the airline is introducing the Recaro R4 seat model, where seats will be in a 2-3-2 layout, with 40″ of pitch. Seats will feature 9″ of recline (2″ more than currently), and tech will be upgraded, with a 15.6″ entertainment screen, AC, USB-A, and USB-C outlets, bluetooth audio, and more.
In economy, the airline is introducing the Recaro R3 seat model, where seats will be in a 3-3-3 layout, with 33-34″ of pitch. Seats will feature an additional 2″ of recline, and tech will be upgraded, with a 13.3″ entertainment screen, AC, USB-A, and USB-C outlets, bluetooth audio, and more.
As you can tell, ANA continues to have a very generous product across cabins, with among the best seat pitch that you’ll find on any airline. It’s nice to see the airline continuing to stick with that.
ANA’s new 787 “The Room FX” business class
ANA is expected to unveil the details of its new 787 business class on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, at the Paris Air Show. While exact details remain to be seen, Executive Traveller reports that the product will be marketed as “The Room FX,” and will be developed by Safran.
ANA is of course known for its incredible “The Room” business class, available exclusively on select Boeing 777-300ERs. So it sounds like the new seat will at least draw some design elements from that, though we don’t know what the “FX” stands for.
As it stands, Boeing 787-9s have the Safran SkyLounge III seats, in a staggered configuration. These seats are perfectly comfortable, but hardly cutting edge, especially given that these aircraft operate some really long routes, including to the United States, Europe, etc.
While we should find out in the coming weeks what product ANA will install, it’s always fun to speculate a bit. Based on the branding, it sounds like the product will generally be similar to “The Room,” but it won’t be exactly that, since the 787 just doesn’t have the cabin width to make that possible. So, what could the airline install?
We know the airline will work with Safran, which is the same manufacturer it has partnered with for all of its long haul business class seats. So my first guess — and again, this is just speculation — is that ANA will introduce the Safran Unity platform on the 787.
JAL was the launch customer for this on the A350, so I suppose in a way, it would be a bit odd if ANA copied its most direct competitor. Then again, we’re now seeing that in the US as well, with American, United, and Hawaiian, all introducing the same long haul business class seating platform.
In the case of the Unity platform, the seat is produced by Safran, it can be installed on the 787, it’s one of the best new “generic” business class products out there, and it has a staggered layout (which ANA seems to like). I could be totally wrong, but that’s what I’d guess.
ANA hasn’t partnered with Collins Aerospace on seats in the past, but otherwise it seems like the Collins Aerospace Horizon Seat would be the most likely option, as you’ll find it on Korean Air’s new 787s. This is also a staggered product.
Bottom line
ANA plans to overhaul its Boeing 787-9 cabins as of 2026, as these planes are used for some of the carrier’s longest routes. The airline has announced the Recaro seats that we’ll find in premium economy and economy, while the new business class is expected to be revealed soon, and will have the name “The Room FX.”
It’s great to see that ANA plans to invest in these jets. Now if only ANA could finish reconfiguring its few remaining 777-300ERs flying with old interiors…
What do you make of ANA’s plans to overhaul 787 cabins?
The current 787 business class seats are not "perfectly comfortable." They are terribly tight and uncomfortable. I would actively avoid them.
Agree. Combined with ANA turning on the lights at 4am to serve a soggy breakfast I’d prefer to avoid them when I can.
Wife and daughter flew the new cabin from HND to Chicago last year and it was amazing but the old product is very tired. I remember being very excited to fly it in about 2015.
Yes we loved The Room!
Here’s hoping they put proper shades on the windows. Those dimmer windows do not reflect heat, making seats on the sun side really hot.
Nice to see they keep the 33-34" pitch - everyone else goes to 30" or below when they upgrade...scratch that - renew Economy seating.
I am waiting for the upgrade to the 787-8 business class. These are terrible.
Guessing this isn't going to happen. Instead, I speculate that these jets will just be relegated exclusively to intra-Asia business class.
They have the staggered seats along with the cradle seats. It's a given that the frames with the staggered seats are used on intercontinental flights, while the cradle seats are limited to low-yield intra-Asia routes. And 4 frames are bound for Air Japan with possibly more down the line.
So do they plan to upgauge those routes with the-9 or keep it status quo with the -8?
At the very least, I can...
They have the staggered seats along with the cradle seats. It's a given that the frames with the staggered seats are used on intercontinental flights, while the cradle seats are limited to low-yield intra-Asia routes. And 4 frames are bound for Air Japan with possibly more down the line.
So do they plan to upgauge those routes with the-9 or keep it status quo with the -8?
At the very least, I can see them harvesting the staggered seats on the -9 and installing them on the -8 while getting rid of the cradle seats on the 787 altogether.
The craddle seats are fixed stables on the Singapore and Bangkok routes. They are also swapped in on Sydney and Vancouver from time to time. So they go quite far.
One thing I can appreciate is that they're consistent for the most part in terms of hard product where JAL has multiple products even on a single type. The only gripe I would have with them along with JAL would be the number of configurations.
I wonder what their plans are for the -8s as the cradle seats are uncompetitive.
As for the -10s, just like SQ and BR, the staggered seats are perfectly adequate on the majority of the routes they're on.
Maybe they should retrofit the 777's with the ancient seats that feature iPod inputs first?
Guessing those jets will be retired once the 777-9s come online anyway.
Those economy seats looks really terrible. They look like what you would expect on frontier.
You get what you pay for.
These are the same model seats that you would get on QF, SQ, CX, JL, KL among other carriers. The only difference would be the cushions and covers, finish and trim along with IFE vendor. The "seat structure" would be the same with each airline customizing it to their spec.
But I agree that there are other seats out there that look way better.
Yes, they look REAL thin and hard. Yeah, no.