ANA Holdings’ new low-cost airline brand for medium-haul international routes, Air Japan, plans to launch its inaugural all-economy Boeing 787-8 service on 9 February 2024, linking Tokyo Narita with Bangkok.
Tickets are now on sale for an initial schedule that will see Air Japan offer six weekly roundtrips on the route through 30 March 2024, subject to approval from relevant authorities.
“The flights will depart from Narita Airport’s Terminal 1, offering convenient connections to flights operated by ANA Group airlines. Similarly, Suvarnabhumi Airport provides easy access to both connecting flights and the urban area of Bangkok,” notes Air Japan.
This network will be expanded over time to medium-haul markets in Asia using 324-seat Boeing 787s. The twinjet’s all-economy interiors were designed in partnership with Acumen.
Air Japan’s seats are 17.5″ wide, and pitched at 32″. They don’t offer seatback IFE, but do feature tablet holders plus both USB Type-A and Type-C power ports. Image: Acumen/Air Japan
Air Japan is offering three fare classes: Simple, which as its name suggests is a baseline economy product; Standard, which includes advance selection of certain seats and one piece of checked luggage; and Selected, offering the best seat selection options, two pieces of checked luggage, and inflight meals (barring certain select items).
A variety of dining options can be purchased when reserving a ticket. But Air Japan will also offer a buy-on-board menu that includes meals, blankets, and other amenities that the carrier will divulge closer to its launch date.
The bento box-styled sample meals shared by Air Japan look quite scrumptious. Image: Air Japan
To facilitate this unbundled, customizable service model, Dunfermline, Scotland-based Bluebox is providing its Blueview onboard retail platform on board Air Japan’s 787-8s.
The solution, explains Bluebox in a statement today, will allow Air Japan passengers “to use their own devices to order items from Air Japan’s food & beverage menu and retail catalogue. Hosted on the Bluebox Wow portable wireless system, Blueview will also deliver an engaging IFE experience with passengers able to stream content to their own devices.”
The wireless IFE will be offered for free, says the airline, and will include “new Hollywood movies, children’s programs and animations, Air Japan original videos” and more.
With its budget model, Air Japan is seeking to support the Japanese government’s target of attracting 60 million foreign visitors to Japan by 2030.
“Our focus since we launched our new brand has been our concept of ‘Fly Thoughtful’ and this new service offers our passengers the freedom to make purchases when they wish from the convenience of their own seats and the familiarity of their own devices,” says Air Japan president Hideki Mineguchi.
“It is another new service we have added to our product since our brand launch that embodies our innovative spirit and will ensure that once we start flying, our passengers have an outstanding experience of flying with us.”
Parent ANA Holdings already operates a low-cost carrier in the form of majority-owned Peach, which flies high-density Airbus A320 family aircraft from Kansai International Airport.
Japan Airlines’ own budget carrier Zipair Tokyo flies two-class 787-8s to Bangkok, and further afield including to Honolulu and the California cities of San Jose, Los Angeles and San Francisco. It provides Panasonic Avionics’ inflight connectivity on board, and has vowed to bring SpaceX’s Starlink Aviation service to passengers.
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Featured image credited to Air Japan
