ANA Boeing 787-9 Inaugural HND-FUK AUG 7, 2014

[Carfield]

ANA All Nippon Airways Boeing 787-9 Inaugural




For those who just want to see the pictures, here is the link to my full album:
http://s1213.photobucket.com/user/Ca...9Inaugural2014

ANA All Nippon Airways has been a supporter of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner project, and is the launch carrier for 787-8, but has been surprisingly quiet about its Boeing 787-9 program. Up until the middle of July, there had been little or no news about ANA beginning its 787-9 flight. Air New Zealand has long been expected to be the first carrier with the first scheduled revenue flight on the 787-9. Late July, ANA received its first Boeing 787-9, JA830A, and announced its first flight, which was a charter flight bringing a group of local children from Japanese and American schools on August 4. A few days later, it suddenly announced that August 7 would be the first day of its scheduled commercial service, and ANA beat Air New Zealand, as the first airline to offer scheduled service on B787-9s by two days. I woke up to the news around 11am Hong Kong local time, and premium class on NH 241, the inaugural flight from Haneda to Fukuoka was already full. I wasted no time in holding a seat in the economy cabin, but the price was no joke - 43,890Yen ($440USD), which was more expensive than the discounted Premium fare! It was no surprise given the lack of advance notice but in the end, it was still aviation history, and I managed to get an exit row window seat.

I arrived at Tokyo the evening before and decided to choose to stay over at the Excel Tokyu Hotel Haneda, and this was my view when I woke up in the morning. JA830A was already getting ready at gate 60.


Check-in:


As a Star Alliance Gold member, I was eligible to use the Premium check-in, as well as using premium priority lanes (but only available during the peak morning and evening hours). The agent was extremely efficient, friendly, and polite, and my check-in baggage was tagged with a priority label. As a recent recipient of Skytrax Best Ground Service, ANA definitely did not disappoint. The agents were all friendly.

Lounge:
I actually stopped by the ANA lounge to use the restroom and to get a quick drink before the flight. Domestic lounges for both ANA and JAL are relatively basic with limited alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and packaged snack mixes. Sorry no pictures!

Festivities:
ANA always has some kinds of Press-related events of these inaugural flights, and today was an important date, as ANA stole away Air New Zealand’s first revenue B787-9 title. Unfortunately I don’t speak any Japanese so I don’t have a clue on what is going on. But I am sure that it is all about how important Boeing 787-9 is to ANA, and all those PR stuffs. The Japanese businessman speaking was possibly ANA’s CEO, Mr. Osamu Shinobe, but hopefully some of you can verify his identity. He made a speech and I was impressed that he memorized the whole speech with no cheat sheet at all. Then there was a Q & A session with the press. However if you are expecting a buffet like JetBlue or Singapore Airlines, this is definitely not the occasion – not even a sake barrel breaking ceremony.

Here are some of the pictures:

[Carfield]

Boarding:
Even with all these festivities, boarding started on time at 7:05am with all the pre-boarding. Then premium class passengers, ANA elites, along with Star Alliance Gold members were invited, and I could not help to be amazed on how discipline Japanese passengers were. In the end you are not surprised that boarding could be completed in fifteen minutes because everyone was courteous and followed instructions.




ANA staffs were handing out a Boeing 787 pen and a first flight certificate to each passenger!


Finally JA830A, Boeing 787-9…


Flight attendants were welcoming passengers and very cheerful!
Basket of candies with handmade JA830A description card


First shot of cabin:
Premium Class – of course 787-9s feature the latest generation of ANA’s domestic premium class seat with the funky divider



Economy class – the new generation of slim economy seats arranged in nine abreast seating with 30-31 inches of legroom – I really don’t need to say more about how narrow these seats are!

First cabin – directly behind premium class cabin




Second cabin

[Carfield]

Third cabin





Thankfully I had this seat – 32A – exit rows – at least my legs can stretch out!



Jump seat


A pair of headsets was available on the seat pocket in front of us, for mostly audio programs and a short television program later.

Wingtip view – really cool from Seat 32A


Honestly this 787-9 is designed for domestic flights, so there are no power outlets in economy class. There is no personal TV in both cabins. It is a very simple cabin that works well on most Japanese domestic flights that last less than two hours.

There were many enthusiasts onboard but not as crazy as the Boeing 787-8, which was totally understandable, especially the interior of ANA Boeing 787-9s was really not that exciting. But the atmosphere was definitely festive! My neighbors at 32B and 32C were definitely not one of them, as both of them were typical businessmen happened to be flying to Fukuoka for business.

Boarding door was closed at 7:25am. We pushed back six minutes later, as Haneda was very busy on the morning.

This was definitely not a typical sendoff from the ground crews! It was really cool!


We began taxing to R/W16L at 7:35am, and finally took off at 7:52am. Flying time was an hour and nineteen minutes, and our cruising attitude was 40,000ft this morning.

Some picture of Tokyo after takeoff

[Carfield]

Mount Fuji I think – no snow at this time of the year


Seat:
These seats are extremely uncomfortable if you need to sit on them for more than thirty minutes. I know nine abreast is typical now even for a full service airline, but honestly can you really call yourself a full service or premium airlines if you choose to install nine abreast in economy? My neighbor at 32B was suffering, as both he and I were pretty wide in the shoulders and I had to lean onto the window, so each of us could have more rooms. For a short hour and half, it was barely tolerable, but I can’t imagine a flight more than two hours. The width was similar to Boeing 737s, but I actually feel that 737 Y seats are more comfortable. Anyway, when I flew an A320 Y a few hours after this flight, I immediately felt the difference in the width and my shoulder room. Enough rant!

Tray table from the armrest



Small side pocket for exit row passengers


New safety card – one common Boeing 787 one for both -8s and -9s



My Choice menu


Recline button and audio-video program console


I tried a take a few pictures of the seats in the recline position but not sure if you could tell the recline.



In-flight Service
For whatever reasons, ANA does not permit F/As to perform any duty till the seat belt sign was turned off. The pilots waited till we reached 40,000feet before releasing the crew, so service did not begin till 8:23am. ANA offers a complimentary limited beverage service, and a buy on board menu called “My Choice”. However since ANA started the beverage service from the aft of the cabin to the front in each section, so I did not get to order the beef congee/porridge. Indeed I barely got a drink, before the initial descent began. The F/As were friendly but there was just insufficient time to finish even an abbreviated beverage service on a full cabin. I really think there should be English announcements on these major domestic trunk routes, not just a welcome message. I saw some passengers using the call button to order those “My Choice” items, so I guess I should do so in the future, and highly recommend you to do so as well.

Beverage menu:

[Carfield]

Iced Green tea



Today’s entertainment includes an animated feature – “Pokemon: Pikachu, What’s This Key?” and this Pocket Monster cartoon perhaps serves to entertain the children flying during the summer, other than the adults. For some reasons, there is no nose camera or Sky Map. That’s why I think ANA really rushes this Boeing 787-9 inaugural.

Here were some pictures that I took, as I used the restroom in the aft cabin. These domestic 787 planes feature fewer bathrooms than regular 787s servicing international flights.

Toilet – no automatic Japanese toilet – only normal bathroom



Aft Galley – very tidy


Aft entrance doors


Cabin view from the aft to front – it was a very long plane


Aft section – note the rainbow mood light


Middle section


Descent began at 8:44am, and the F/As were still busy wrapping up the beverage service. Seat belt sign was finally turned on at 8:58am.

Descending towards Fukuoka



We landed on R/W16 at 9:11am, and it was cool seeing the flap in actions during landing.

[Carfield]

We parked at gate 5 ten minutes later, and there was a line of ground crews bowing to our plane, as we parked at gate 5.




Of course I waited till everyone left before taking a few more pictures. I had a short chat with the F/A and she was very friendly, and her English was very good. ANA F/As were definitely some of the best in this industry.

More cabin pictures:









There was not much celebration on our arrival, except there was some TV crews interviewing passengers.
ANA Boeing 787-9s at Fukuoka

[Carfield]

I later went to the Observation Deck and took these pictures of JA830A leaving to Haneda.




Conclusion:
I am so fortunate to be in Asia, so I can take part in this historical flight. Surely it was not crazy as the first 787-8 flight, but it is always fun to be part of history. ANA sort of sneaks in and is the first airline to have a revenue flight on the 787-9, and it is definitely doable with a domestic configured plane. There are still some items that are unavailable like Sky Map, but for short flights to FUK/ITM/Matsuyama, this plane is more than sufficient. However, if you are expecting a bling bling type interior, this might not be the flight that you are looking for. My feeling remains strong about these narrow seats – 9 abreast arrangement is really not fitting for a major airline, regardless of the length of the flight. Yes these domestic Japanese flights are short, but if you are Air Asia Japan or Peach, it is okay, but if you are like a Skytrax Best Transpacific Airline, nine abreast in Y is definitely not acceptable, unless you are willing to give seats 34” of legroom. I really hope that the major airlines will stick with 9 abreast on the Airbus A350. Other than the narrow seats, it is nice to be part of aviation history and it always makes me smile looking at the passion of the Japanese aviation enthusiasts. Hope you will enjoy this trip report!

Carfield

[MAN Flyer]

As ever, thanks for the interesting TR, Carfield.

Air New Zealand has long been expected to be the first carrier with the first scheduled revenue flight on the 787-9. Late July, ANA received its first Boeing 787-9, JA830A, and announced its first flight, which was a charter flight bringing a group of local children from Japanese and American schools on August 4. A few days later, it suddenly announced that August 7 would be the first day of its scheduled commercial service, and ANA beat Air New Zealand, as the first airline to offer scheduled service on B787-9s by two days.

Funnily enough I saw the NZ 787 in SYD when I landed yesterday. Great livery.

[9V-SIA]

Thanks for sharing

Y certainly looks tight

I guess my first 787 flight should not be on this NH domestic configured 789!

[yflyer]

Great report, Carfield! Thanks for posting.

The 787-9 is a beautiful plane...I am looking forward to flying one some day.

I can't say I am too impressed with the ANA domestic configuration though. A revolutionary plane like the 787 is just crying out to be used on flagship routes and premium cabin configurations. I wonder why so many of these end up with low cost carriers and in high-density configurations...

[Durian]

I can totally relate to this flight. Last year, while on a biz trip in Tokyo, I took the opportunity to sightsee in Hiroshima and experience ANA's 788 on HND-HIJ-HND... indeed that domestic aircraft was a huge disappointment... other than the self-flushing loos and button-controlled shades, nothing worth the trip, no personal TV, minimum catering (drinks only)... that was it...

[FN-GM]

Thanks for the TR. I enjoyed it