Japan Airlines is in the process of refreshing its long haul fleet. The oneworld airline is gradually replacing its Boeing 777-300ERs with Airbus A350-1000s. Not only is the A350 a joy to fly in general, but these planes are particularly exciting, given that they feature an all-new passenger experience.
I’ve reviewed Japan Airlines’ new A350 first class and A350 business class, and they’re both spectacular, among the best in their respective competitive sets. If you want to redeem miles for these experiences, see my guide to doing so.
The A350-1000 is currently in service on up to four daily frequencies across three routes. The airline has now revealed an update to the schedule, as London A350 service will soon go from every other day to daily, so I want to cover those details. Let me emphasize that these A350-1000s are separate from the company’s A350-900s, which are exclusively used for domestic flights, and feature a completely different layout.
In this post:
Japan Airlines’ A350-1000 fleet progress
Japan Airlines has so far taken delivery of seven Airbus A350-1000s out of the 13 that the airline has on order with the following registration codes:
- JA01WJ operated its delivery flight from Toulouse (TLS) to Tokyo (HND) on December 14, 2023
- JA02WJ operated its delivery flight on January 13, 2024
- JA03WJ operated its delivery flight on March 30, 2024
- JA04WJ operated its delivery flight on July 31, 2024
- JA05WJ operated its delivery flight on August 10, 2024
- JA06WJ operated its delivery flight on October 2, 2024
- JA08WJ operated its delivery flight on December 6, 2024
Note that the A350-1000 with the registration code JA07WJ was recently put into storage at Chateauroux Airport (CHR) for some reason, so we’ll see when that aircraft enters service.
Japan Airlines is taking delivery of these jets progressively, and all 13 A350-1000s aren’t expected to join the oneworld carrier’s fleet until 2028, at which point the 777-300ERs will be retired. The airline has certainly done an impressive job with the pace at which these deliveries have started, as up to eight aircraft are joining the fleet within the first year.
Presumably there will soon be a gap in deliveries, since Japan Airlines has already taken delivery of over half of its A350s, with the remaining deliveries spread out over the next three to four years.
Japan Airlines’ current A350-1000 routes & flights
Japan Airlines currently operates the Airbus A350-1000 daily on up to four daily frequencies to three destinations — New York (JFK), Dallas (DFW), and London (LHR).
Japan Airlines flies the Airbus A350-1000 twice daily between Tokyo (HND) and New York (JFK). The airline operates two daily frequencies in the market, and both feature this special jet:
JL6 Tokyo to New York departing 11:05AM arriving 10:50AM
JL5 New York to Tokyo departing 1:45PM arriving 5:15PM (+1 day)
JL4 Tokyo to New York departing 6:30PM arriving 6:30PM
JL3 New York to Tokyo departing 1:40AM arriving 4:45AM (+1 day)
On top of that, Japan Airlines flies the A350-1000 daily between Tokyo (HND) and Dallas (DFW), with the following schedule:
JL12 Tokyo to Dallas departing 10:55AM arriving 8:40AM
JL11 Dallas to Tokyo departing 11:05AM arriving 2:40PM (+1 day)
Lastly, Japan Airlines flies the A350-1000 every other day between Tokyo (HND) and London (LHR). The airline operates this route twice daily, and the following frequency features the A350:
JL43 Tokyo to London departing 9:50AM arriving 3:15PM
JL44 London to Tokyo departing 6:30PM arriving 5:20PM (+1 day)
Japan Airlines’ future A350-1000 routes & flights
The only current additional update is that as of January 2, 2025, Japan Airlines will fly the A350-1000 daily between Tokyo (HND) and London (LHR), rather than just every other day.
I suspect there will be a gap in deliveries soon, so it’s likely that we won’t see much more service added with the A350-1000 in the next couple of years.
Bottom line
Japan Airlines put its Airbus A350-1000 into commercial service in early 2024, and its footprint is expanding quickly. The airline has seven planes in this sub-fleet, operating up to four daily frequencies to three destinations, including New York (JFK), Dallas (DFW), and London (LHR). As of very early 2025, the London A350 service will go from operating every other day, to operating daily.
What do you make of Japan Airlines’ Airbus A350-1000 routes?
JAL already announced that they will take 3 A350-1000 in FY25 (11 in total) and they plan to deploy new A350-1000s to Paris and “US West Coast”.
It will be SFO/LAX so let’s see.
Thank you for that - I think I found the article you're referencing and it seems JAL will announce the next destination in January.
What I find interesting is why they fly this Airplane to DFW? Do they get such a yield premium in Dallas over CDG to justify using the A350-1000 over the 777.
The DFW area alone has a ton of Japanese businesses, with the biggest of them being the Toyota HQ for North America. DFW has also been getting bigger and bigger as a Oneworld hub given that it's AA's HQ and biggest hub.
So excited that my LHR-HND First booking for long ago will be guaranteed to be on the new aircraft now!!!
Which is better: fly old JAL F direct from LAX and get to use the Qantas First lounge, or connect to DFW to experience the new F but have to use AA FF lounge / C1?
Quite honestly whichever one you can actually manage to book. It's a moot point if neither is available to book, in almost no case will it be possible to book both these options at the same time.
I think the QF lounge at LAX is pretty average. If you’re connecting you should still be able to use the QF lounge anyway.
I really like the AA lounge at DFW. great views of the tarmac. Sun. Etc.
Just took the direct flight from LAX in the old first on the 777 and had the same direct flight booked for the return but cancelled and rerouted through Dallas instead to experience the new seat. Couldn’t have been happier w the decision. If your schedule permits it is unequivocally worth the detour to Dallas. The Qantas lounge in LA is undoubtedly a much nicer experience than the AA flagship lounge in Dallas but a...
Just took the direct flight from LAX in the old first on the 777 and had the same direct flight booked for the return but cancelled and rerouted through Dallas instead to experience the new seat. Couldn’t have been happier w the decision. If your schedule permits it is unequivocally worth the detour to Dallas. The Qantas lounge in LA is undoubtedly a much nicer experience than the AA flagship lounge in Dallas but a ride in the new JAL first can’t be weighed against a few hours in the Qantas lounge. It’s a no brainer if you don’t mind a few extra hours of travel for a really special experience. The A350k seat is incredible. The lounge is just another lounge.
Thank you for the responses! I already have an award on the direct old option, so I'll start the hunt for a connecting award on the new First since it seems worth it.
You keep stating that the a351 is on the Tokyo/London route when it is not. It does not start flying to London until January 2025.
A quick check on Google Flights shows the A350-1000 flying this month HND-LHR....
JL44 as Ben indicated is B777 and A351 on alternate days.
Kind of shocking that they haven't sent these to L.A. and San Francisco yet, especially considering the amount of competition between those gateways and Japan.
Then again, that might be why.
To be fair, ANA is using their older 77W product to LAX and SFO and JALs product would be about equal. And I would say no contest if comparing JAL and ANA to the American carriers.
I'll also add that they happen to be some of the longest routes in their network, so it does make sense to use the most efficient a/c available whereas LAX and SFO is a rather quick hop over the Pacific.
Definitely agree on the segment length part.
Would point out though that ANA still has not returned First Class to the L.A. market since the Pandemic, and JAL has only recently gone daily on theirs, after being slow to bring it back. For several years after Covid, Singapore was actually the only airline offering daily First Class in the entire L.A.-Tokyo (both airports) market.
So seems that the combination of short segments and softened demand...
Definitely agree on the segment length part.
Would point out though that ANA still has not returned First Class to the L.A. market since the Pandemic, and JAL has only recently gone daily on theirs, after being slow to bring it back. For several years after Covid, Singapore was actually the only airline offering daily First Class in the entire L.A.-Tokyo (both airports) market.
So seems that the combination of short segments and softened demand for their First product, is the likely reason JAL is keeping this new product away from the west coast. Just my guess though.
Was just coming in here to discuss the possibility of JAL adding the new First to LAX. It seems like the trend so far with each new plane delivery is to shore up the existing routes, rather than expand to a new destination.
I'll also add for speculation: with the lack of pre-Pandemic Chinese capacity dumping, JAL might not feel the pressure to "woo" the west coast vs other markets. My (entirely uneducated) guess is...
Was just coming in here to discuss the possibility of JAL adding the new First to LAX. It seems like the trend so far with each new plane delivery is to shore up the existing routes, rather than expand to a new destination.
I'll also add for speculation: with the lack of pre-Pandemic Chinese capacity dumping, JAL might not feel the pressure to "woo" the west coast vs other markets. My (entirely uneducated) guess is that CDG will be the next route (2 destinations in the US, 2 destinations in Europe).
@Mike O. - ANA does offer their new First on SFO-NRT.
I’d much rather fly American than ANAs old product. It really isn’t that great anymore. Just my opinion.
No worries, JAL will take 3 new A35K in FY 2025 and US West Coast is already earmarked as future destination of A35K along with CDG.
It could be SFO, LAX or both, so stay tuned for new announcements.
With two JAL posts in 1 day you are getting me very excited for my JAL a350-1 F class next month!
Perhaps it's a bot making these threads coz both threads state that the a351 flies between london and tokyo when it doesn't do so, scheduled to start in january 2025