Later this year, Japan Airlines will start taking delivery of some Airbus A350-1000s. This will have some major implications for the airline, and its passenger experience.
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Japan Airlines has 13 A350-1000s on order
Japan Airlines has a total of 13 Airbus A350-1000s on order, which will eventually become the carrier’s flagship aircraft. Japan Airlines currently has 13 Boeing 777-300ERs in its fleet, which are the carrier’s flagship aircraft, so you can expect a 1:1 replacement.
Japan Airlines’ 777s were delivered between 2004 and 2009, so they’re an average of around 16 years old as of now. That’s by no means old, but the carrier likes to have a modern fleet, so it’s not surprising to see these replaced.
The Japanese oneworld airline is expected to take delivery of its first A350-1000s this year, and should replace all of its 777-300ERs by 2028:
- Two A350-1000s will be delivered before the end of 2023
- Nine A350-1000s will be delivered before the end of 2025
- 13 A350-1000s will be delivered by 2028
You might be thinking to yourself “well doesn’t Japan Airlines already have A350s?” Yes, actually it does. Japan Airlines ordered a total of 18 A350-900s, 16 of which have already been delivered. However, these are exclusively used for domestic flights, and have a totally different configuration. These planes are high density, given the short routes that are operated within Japan.
New York will be first A350-1000 destination
Japan Airlines has announced its first A350-1000 route. During the 2023 winter schedule, the airline is expected to start flying the plane between Tokyo (HND) and New York (JFK). The winter schedule historically starts in late October and ends in late March.
We don’t know exactly when in the winter schedule the new A350 will be operated on the route, though I’d expect it to happen before the end of 2023. As of now, the airline hasn’t updated its schedule to reflect the new aircraft type.
Japan Airlines will introduce new cabins on A350-1000s
While the Airbus A350 is a pleasure to fly in general, there’s something else to look forward to with these new planes. Japan Airlines will be introducing new cabins on A350-1000s, and here’s how the airline describes that as of now:
With the introduction of the Airbus A350-1000, we are developing new cabin specifications for international flights to provide a new unprecedented experience for each and every one of our customers. (Details will be announced as soon as they are finalized.)
It’s exciting to hear that Japan Airlines will be introducing new products on its planes, and I can’t wait to learn the details. Unprecedented, eh?
Currently Japan Airlines first class consists of open suites, in a 1-2-1 configuration. The hard product is far from cutting edge, though the soft product is phenomenal. The airline sure could use an upgrade to this product.
Meanwhile Japan Airlines business class consists of Apex Suites, which I consider to be a very good product. I’m curious to see what the airline comes up with next.
Star Alliance rival All Nippon Airways recently refreshed its long haul cabins. The new All Nippon Airways first class is very good, with suites that have doors.
Arguably what’s most impressive is the new All Nippon Airways business class, which might just be the best business class hard product in the world. Really these seats feel like first class suites, rather than what you’d expect in business class.
I’m sure Japan Airlines will come up with something great that rivals what All Nippon Airways offers. The big question is what this will mean for award availability.
Bottom line
Later this year, Japan Airlines will take delivery of its first of 13 Airbus A350-1000s. These will be the carrier’s new flagship aircraft, and will gradually replace 13 Boeing 777-300ERs through 2028. The A350-1000 not only has great fuel economy and range, but we can also expect the airline to introduce new cabins on this plane.
Japan Airlines’ first A350-1000 is supposed to enter service during the upcoming winter season, initially flying between Tokyo and New York.
What are you expecting from Japan Airlines’ new A350-1000s?
Really looking forward to the new JL First and Business seats. While service is always good, the seats are incredibly outdated. Just flew first CDG-HND and my seat had to be coaxed everytime to go into bed mode, the tracks seemed to have been all gummed up or something because it'd quit constantly, hanging to back up a bit a try again. Leaves a poor first class experience.
I would agree with several people on a couple issues: Doors, honestly I dont care.
Cabin Temp: OMG !! JAL is so uncomfortably HOT. Why or Why don't these (typically) Asian carriers realize that if pax are too cold... blankets are a great solution.
JALS food... I have flown both F & J (recently, SFO-HND) and its...good...not great.
Looking forward to a wonderful product that I am confident JL can deliver
I've only flown JAL once and that was from HND to SIN in July 2019 on their 777-200ER in Economy. And ironically, it was pretty cold in the cabin. My mom complained to the FA (in a light way) and the FA was very apologetic and changed the cabin temp just for her! We were preboard and the only ones in the cabin. The FA seemed to be Singaporean (based on her excellent English and...
I've only flown JAL once and that was from HND to SIN in July 2019 on their 777-200ER in Economy. And ironically, it was pretty cold in the cabin. My mom complained to the FA (in a light way) and the FA was very apologetic and changed the cabin temp just for her! We were preboard and the only ones in the cabin. The FA seemed to be Singaporean (based on her excellent English and looks). She was amazing and looked after us the entire flight. But ironically the stereotype of Asian airlines having cold cabins did not hold true for my 1 experience. Even after changing the temp, my mom was still cold and the FA brought over more blankets. Granted, my mom gets cold very easily. She always wears long sleeves and we live in Florida.
I fly JFK-HND multiple times each year. While I run hot, the cabin is never too hot. This sounds more like a you problem…
Still have to take a jab at not having doors right?
I'm going to prove this stupid bulls**t that people say they care but really don't care.
When I'm bored enough, I might do a social experiment.
Design is simple. If you want to close your door, you pay extra $$$.
Let's see how much people really value the door.
I can tell you the results of a social experiment on aircraft that have business or first class suites with doors because I have flown on aircraft that have them - and the majority of people do close the door for at least part of the flight.
You would need data and the ability to do a full analysis and exclude other factors to know whether people pay more for doors - but the...
I can tell you the results of a social experiment on aircraft that have business or first class suites with doors because I have flown on aircraft that have them - and the majority of people do close the door for at least part of the flight.
You would need data and the ability to do a full analysis and exclude other factors to know whether people pay more for doors - but the trend in the industry has been toward adding doors to the most premium products.
It won't change my purchase decision but it is clearly one of many factors that some passengers - or the companies that negotiate travel for some of them - consider.
Nobody gives a rats arse about doors. Except for a few people with some weird door fetish, it's a complete non-issue. Doors, scmhoors, just give me a foot cubby that's wide enough to actually let my feet move around freely while I sleep, and forget the door nonsense.
@Bobo Bolinski
The Apex suites are your answer, unfortunately they lack the space because you didn't trade a coffin for it.
@Tim Dunn
Social experiment not a cure for cancer.
"If you want to close your door, **you pay extra $$$.**" the latter part should pretty much 'exclude other factors'.
And a reminder it's a social experiment not a cure for cancer.
Indeed, while the F product on the 777 is definitely not cutting-edge, I found the service to be phenomenal the one time I was lucky enough to experience it. It was private enough.
Comfort-wise it was undoubtedly the best
airplane seat I have ever been in, although I have never been in international F before - only J long-haul. As many others complain, they keep the cabin temperature way too hot and there are...
Indeed, while the F product on the 777 is definitely not cutting-edge, I found the service to be phenomenal the one time I was lucky enough to experience it. It was private enough.
Comfort-wise it was undoubtedly the best
airplane seat I have ever been in, although I have never been in international F before - only J long-haul. As many others complain, they keep the cabin temperature way too hot and there are no individual air vents. I hope they at least install these on the A350, but I'm not holding my breath!
Beverages were absolutely phenomenal, but some of the food was a miss. I ordered a VLML and tend to be a picky eater - although I thought the main courses were a miss, I was served the most amazing Vichyssoise as part of the meal. OMG... that was just SO good! I also really liked that they served something other than the ubiquitous fruit plate for dessert - it ended up being cheesecake which was very good.
In my opinion, the main courses were better when I flew GF J FRA-BAH on that same trip. That was probably the best airline food I've ever encountered, aside from the Vichyssoise and some of the other appetizers I was served in JL F. I mean, you're not going to find caviar in GF J, but they totally nailed the main course.
Would really like to see JL do something like SQ's Book the Cook in F as well.
They will have huge beautiful screens with 4 movies on them :). Always shocked that the Japanese carriers invest so much into their hard product and service but completely leave out entertainment.
There’s lots of choice for Japanese speakers, who make up the very large majority of their customers. How much Japanese content is there on US3 airlines?
Anyone know what the net reduction/increase in number of business class seats will be? Doubtful they'd be able to increase it.
The A350-1000 has become the longest range, most cost effective large aircraft and will remain that way until at least the 777X enters service and even then the A350 might still have a cost advantage depending on who you believe.
JL's order like much of the A350 orderbook is coming in very quickly which means that Airbus needs to sell some more A350-1000s which already has sold far fewer copies than the 787-10 which...
The A350-1000 has become the longest range, most cost effective large aircraft and will remain that way until at least the 777X enters service and even then the A350 might still have a cost advantage depending on who you believe.
JL's order like much of the A350 orderbook is coming in very quickly which means that Airbus needs to sell some more A350-1000s which already has sold far fewer copies than the 787-10 which is considerably less capable or the 777X. Several Asian airlines have chosen the A350-900 as well as the 777X but not many carriers have chosen both the -1000 and the 777X. I suspect JL has made its decision about a new generation large widebody.
As for the comment about the US3 not being able to compete from JFK to Tokyo, none of them flight it right now. AA and UA have joint ventures on JL and NH, respectively, while DL's President said they will fly JFK-HND. Since there are no known growth slots at HND for US carriers, that either means more are coming that haven't been announced (which means AA, UA and the Japanese carriers will get a crack at them) or DL will try to move one of its HND flights to JFK. PDX seems like the most likely candidate. The DOT has not given US carriers the freedom to transfer routes between gateways to HND as the Japanese carriers can do but the DOT said when it issued the slots that it would potentially review slot reassignment requests after 2 years. Since the pandemic occurred during that period - DL gained all of its current HND slots in March of 2020 - it is hard to know how the DOT will decide, if DL even asks.
looks like Airbus and Qatar Airways have settled their differences and a bunch of grounded A350s will return to the skies and QR will take delivery of the A321NEOs and A350s that were on order and cancelled by Airbus.
big win for Airbus
DL didn’t get all its HND slots in 2020. It had the LAX & MSP routes under the 2016 agreement.
Interesting. I thought for sure they’d go with the larger Boeing 777-9. Choosing either manufacturer would have made sense. The A350-900 & the 777-300 have commonality with the A350-1000 & 777-9 respectively. I’m happy for JA either way.
JAL and ANA have different strategies; while NH is a much larger carrier, JLs operation is much leaner since they emerged from bankruptcy. Their fleet alone was bloated. Remember NRT lined up with 747s, DC10s and MD11s back in the day?! Great times, but they had to make significant cuts. And the A350 helps in keeping their product consistent across its international fleet.
They will upgrade F though prob cut capacity to 4. For J I expect them to add a door to the existing 787 herringbone seat
I have a first class flight booked from JFK to HND in November, hope I get it!
There's not much else what you can do with first and business class these days! The latest trend in first would be akin to a private jet experience, so you have something like this: https://thedesignair.net/2022/12/16/is-there-future-in-first-class-acumen-certainly-thinks-so/ or this:https://robbreport.com/motors/aviation/this-british-firm-first-class-suites-private-bathrooms-1234796189/. I can't wait to see what they come up with. Now with the IFE, they currently have the Panasonic ex3 on their A359s. I wonder if they'll choose Panasonic's NEXT which is a 4K system currently on CXs...
There's not much else what you can do with first and business class these days! The latest trend in first would be akin to a private jet experience, so you have something like this: https://thedesignair.net/2022/12/16/is-there-future-in-first-class-acumen-certainly-thinks-so/ or this:https://robbreport.com/motors/aviation/this-british-firm-first-class-suites-private-bathrooms-1234796189/. I can't wait to see what they come up with. Now with the IFE, they currently have the Panasonic ex3 on their A359s. I wonder if they'll choose Panasonic's NEXT which is a 4K system currently on CXs A321neo's, the ASTROVA which is also 4K but with OLED, or simply stick with the ex3. As for routes, I wonder if they plan to deploy it to BOS as the A350 does not need that much runway length compared to a 777. I'm also curious if they plan to order more A359s or even 787-10s to replace their international-configured 772ERs, but I wouldn't be surprised if the 789 takes care of that.
JL might pleasantly surprise.
They already configured economy on international 787’s with 8 abreast, while any other airline has 9 abreast.
I hadn't realized Japan Airlines had only 13 77Ws given that these seemed the backbone of their long-haul fleet.
Wouldn't the A350 represent a downgrade in capacity? Unless they're planning on squeezing 10 abreast in Y.
I think "downgauge" is the word you're looking for, but to answer your question, not by much. JAL has a different strategy compared to it's peers, so they'll stick with 9 abreast on their A350s. They ordered the A350s in '13, long before the introduction of the new production standard variant.
Probably not by much. For example, Qatar Airways A350-1000s have around 30 less economy seats than their 777-300ERs). But their A35K has 9 abreast and their 77W has 10 abreast. So most of that seat difference comes with that difference. I believe the row count is similar on both aircraft. However, JAL has 9 abreast on its 777-300ERs. So assuming they keep the same number and footprint of their current premium cabins, their A350-1000s shouldn't...
Probably not by much. For example, Qatar Airways A350-1000s have around 30 less economy seats than their 777-300ERs). But their A35K has 9 abreast and their 77W has 10 abreast. So most of that seat difference comes with that difference. I believe the row count is similar on both aircraft. However, JAL has 9 abreast on its 777-300ERs. So assuming they keep the same number and footprint of their current premium cabins, their A350-1000s shouldn't have much of a capacity difference. Though their economy seat may be .5 inches less in width (which will still be a comfortable 18-18.5in).
JAL has 8-abreast 787, and economy only starting from door 3, they are the least worried carrier about capacity, IMO.
This is very exciting! I was hoping for a cabin refresh from JAL, given how much of a nightmare it is to score ANA awards these days. Hopefully they don't reduce the F footprint cabin by too much and award availability remains decent.
Prepare yourself. I’m expecting the F cabin to be reduced to 6 big chairs, in two rows of three, as that seems to be the way the world is going.
A no brainer to choose JFK as the debut destination, with both cities having large numbers of people wealthy enough to drop cash on F fares without batting an eyelid.
JFK-NRT/HND will be the most competitive route in the world, at least as far as on board experience is concerned. Not sure how UA/AA/DL can expect to compete.
Price,maybe?
Only UA flies from NYC to NRT (and that flight is from Newark EWR, and they are the only airline on that route). JFK-NRT/HND is only flown by JAL and ANA.