Review of ANA flight Nagoya Tokyo in Economy

Airline ANA
Flight NH 338
Class Economy
Seat 20K
Aircraft Boeing 737-700
Flight time 01:10
Take-off 27 Sep 15, 07:55
Arrival at 27 Sep 15, 09:05
NH   #15 out of 96 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 227 reviews
NGO85
By SILVER 1975
Published on 6th October 2015
Background:

With a backlog of recent TPACs, it's time to start pushing them out. This series will cover a quickie to Chicago aboard All Nippon Airways (NH) or ??? as it is colloquially called here.

Part 1 – NGO-NRT [NH 338, Boeing B737-700, Economy] – You are here
Part 2 – NRT-ORD [NH 12, Boeing B777-300ER, Economy] – http://flight-report.com/en/report-12188.html
Part 3 – ORD-NRT [NH 11, Boeing B777-300ER, Economy] – http://flight-report.com/en/report-12313.html
Part 4 – NRT-NGO [NH 337, Boeing B737-500, Economy] – http://flight-report.com/en/report-12391.html

This report will cover the dreaded domestic hop from Nagoya to Narita.


Pre-flight:

I took the first train to the airport in the morning since I had an early flight. Technically, it’s a domestic flight so I only needed to be there by 7:30am, but I played it safe and got there at 6:40am. Arriving at Centrair by train.

photo 1

On the domestic side of the airport, there are two check-in areas for domestic flights. I had to use the area designated for people with international connections. There were three lines: first class, business class, and economy class. As an EY Gold, I get reciprocal benefits on NH so I used the business class line. I was helped by the first class agent immediately since both business class agents were already occupied. She confirmed my routing, handed me my boarding passes, and tagged my bag with a priority sticker letting my know it is checked all the way through to ORD.

photo 2

Domestic boarding pass.

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Having dumped my bag by 6:50am, I decided to mix things up a bit and show a new part of NGO: the garden. This part of the airport is underneath the sky deck. It is adorned with trees and artwork and has some seating areas.

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There was also a display containing some historical aircraft models, such as an AA B707 and a TW B747-100.

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The early morning VN flight must have just arrived, I spotted the VN crew heading to immigration through the glass. When did the VN FAs switch to teal?

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Domestic FIDS. My flight isn’t on the board yet.

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Stepping out onto the observation deck. You can see the sea of domestic aircraft sitting out at remote stands getting ready for the morning departures.

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KE A332 getting prepped for the morning flight to ICN.

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NU B737-400 in the “Sakura Jinbei Jet” special livery getting ready to head down to OKA.

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EH Dash8s and B737-500s getting ready for the short-haul domestic routes.

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My flight was scheduled to be on an EH B737-500, but there is this NH B737-700 sitting at my gate so I’m not sure if we are doing paxbus or are getting an aircraft swap.

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JL B777-300 getting ready for service up to NRT.

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A new carrier to NGO, 9C operates two A320s from mainland China at off-peak times. A nice looking 9C A320 with winglets.

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VN A321.

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International tail line-up. Mainly narrow-bodies right now since the heavies haven’t arrived yet.

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I head back inside to go to security. The lines are long, but move quickly. I decide to skip the domestic lounge since it is useless, unless you just want a cup of coffee or juice for free. Heading to my gate, another view of the JL B777-300.

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Dimly lit NGO terminal.

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Arriving at my gate, the NH B737-700 is still sitting there so it looks like we are getting an aircraft swap. B737 for B735 might not seem like a big deal, but the NH B737-700s are used on regional international routes so they will have better pitch than the all-economy EH B737-500s.

photo 23

The NU B737-400 is getting pushed back at the gate next to mine.

photo 24photo 25




——————————-

All Nippon Airways, NH 338
Equipment: Boeing B737-700 [JA16AN, delivered January 2008]
Departure: 07:55 (ATD: 08:11)
Arrival: 09:05 (ATA: 08:59)
Flight time: 0:48


Boarding is called on-time. I was distracted by the NU B737-400 and missed priority boarding, so I joined the regular queue.

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Down the jetbridge.

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Rainy fuselage shot.

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I got an “ohayou gozaimasu” boarding from the FA in the front galley. There were blankets and a tray with NH candies in it as you boarded the plane. There was a J-cabin (same as the Premium class cabin in my previous reports), which would remain empty since the original flight is sold as all-Y. Heading to the back of the plane.

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My seat (picture taken on arrival so the seatbelts aren’t neatly folded).

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The NH candy I took on boarding. This would be the entire service aspect of the flight apparently… so I’m glad I took it boarding.

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Settling in, the seat pitch is good. Much better than the knee-crunching B737-500s.

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View from my seat during boarding.

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This flight was 100% full (minus the empty J-cabin), view of the arm rests. The outer arm rest has the audio controls and the recline lever. Like a considerate passenger, I let the lady in the middle seat have the arm rest.

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Seat back is full and contains a pre-placed headset.

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The tray table has the funky cup cut-out, which I wouldn’t get to test out.

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The FAs quickly get everyone seated and get the front door closed. The safety video comes on as we fire up the engines and start push back.

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Through the rain covered windows, I can do a little bit of spotting since we are near the runway as we start our taxi. JL B737-800 taking off.

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BC 737-800 taxing by.

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9C A320 with sharklets lifting off.

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Reaching the threshold of the runway, the BC 737-800 storms down the tarmac.

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Behind us, is a FW CRJ-700.

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We hold up short of the runway to let the LH A343 land from FRA.

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We then make a rolling start down the runway. Smooth lift off as we head north into the rainclouds.

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Heavy turbulence as we cross through the dark clouds outside.

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NH headsets.

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Seatback contents. Barf bag, BOB menu, NH magazine, and NH SkyShop.

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The safety card for this NH B737-700.

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Specs for the NH B737-700 in the NH magazine.

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Free drink menu for NH on domestic flights.

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BOB Menu is only available on the following routes. The menu is reasonably priced, but doesn’t really contain practical items.



We finally reached clear air up above the clouds.

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I sit and wait for service to start.

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The TVs come down and start playing car commercials and travel programming.

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The FAs pass through with the SkyShop order forms. Still no sign of the carts. I just enjoy the pretty wing and clouds.

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Ten minutes later, still no drink carts, but the FAs make a second pass through the cabin with the SkyShop order forms. My sleeping neighbors.

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Kumamon made a cameo on the TV.

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And with that, the seat belt signs come on and the FAs announce that we are beginning our final descent into NRT. No drink service, an absolute disgraceful performance by NH. They have time to make two passes for SkyShop orders, but not to offer drinks? We make a sharp left turn to head back towards the coast.

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Entering Chiba Prefecture.

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Rainy descent into NRT.

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We have a squeamish touchdown on the wet tarmac.

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A little peak under the flaps.

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As always at NRT, the taxi is really long. We make our way past the JL operations at Terminal 2.

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GK A320.

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No clue who Captain Park is, but he has a special livery on this D7 A333.

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As soon as land, the FA announces we will park at a remote stand, but then as we get closer to Terminal 1, they change things up and say we are pulling into Gate 56. Here is the NQ B767-300 at the gate next to us.

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I let the masses deplane to get some cabin shots. Here is the cross-row view.

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Cabin shot.

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I get a “thank you” from the FAs deplaning. I follow the signage to international transfers.

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NQ B767-300ER with winglets.

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I didn’t have time to pose, but here is the “Welcome to Narita” photo shoot mat right before the international security and immigration line.

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I will leave off this series here as I head through immigration and into Terminal 1. Thanks for reading this report and please stop by the rest of this series!
See more

Verdict

ANA

6.0/10
Cabin9.0
Cabin crew7.0
Entertainment/wifi7.0
Meal/catering1.0

Nagoya - NGO

8.9/10
Efficiency10.0
Access7.5
Services8.0
Cleanliness10.0

Tokyo - NRT

8.9/10
Efficiency10.0
Access7.5
Services9.0
Cleanliness9.0

Conclusion

Another crappy NH domestic flight. The only positive is that we had an aircraft swap from an EH B737-500 to a NH B737-700. Same impersonal crews and non-existent in-flight service. But we landed on time, so I guess I shouldn’t complain.

Cabin comfort: Aircraft swap meant a couple extra inches of legroom. It was a comfortable flight, but these are the new ironing board seats so anything longer than 1.5-hours would be uncomfortable.

Crew: They said hello and goodbye and that’s about it. They made two passes through the cabin for SkyShop orders, but were nowhere to be seen otherwise.

Meal and catering: I got a candy boarding (which was optional provided you noticed the little basket boarding). Other than that, nothing. Disgraceful performance. I have done the NGO-NRT route many times and there is always a drink service. NH is entering US domestic flight standards.

Entertainment: Newspapers offered and standard seatback literature. Headphones and TV programs played, but I just looked out the window.

On-time performance: Slow boarding so we left late, but landed early. No harm, no foul.

Information on the route Nagoya (NGO) Tokyo (NRT)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 4 avis concernant 2 compagnies sur la ligne Nagoya (NGO) → Tokyo (NRT).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Japan Airlines avec 8.1/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 1 heures et 10 minutes.

  More information

12 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 150455 by
    Numero_2 TEAM BRONZE 10416 Comments
    Thank you for sharing.

    I decide to skip the domestic lounge since it is useless, unless you just want a cup of coffee or juice for free. -> German pax wouldn't mind to have an early monrning Asahi on draught. ;)

    Did you complain to NH about the lacking drinks service ?

    See you for the transpacific flight.
    • Comment 328464 by
      NGO85 SILVER AUTHOR 1963 Comments
      Merci Clement!

      German pax wouldn't mind to have an early monrning Asahi on draught. ;)
      - You'd be happy to know it is Yebisu on tap in NGO ;)

      They claimed it was because of the turbulence on take-off that they didn't feel they would have enough time for a full drink service so they didn't start it. Lies, because 50-75% of passengers are asleep and the drink run takes less than 7 minutes with 2 carts and 4 FAs.

      I have a lot of catching up to do reading FRs, I'll stop by yours soon. I had 4 TPACs and 1 trans-Asian flight in less than 6 weeks so I was out of commission for a while. Of those, there are SK, NH, and UA reports for your *A interest.
    • Comment 328471 by
      directorphilip2 81 Comments
      My Thai Smile flight was 45 mins, they did meal service and then a drinks service, the gear came down for landing the minute they put the trolley away ^_^
    • Comment 328535 by
      NGO85 SILVER AUTHOR 1963 Comments
      Thank you for your comments, I know it's been a while :)

      Not too much to spot in the early morning, but at least there were all the domestic planes sitting out on the tarmac overnight.

      The yellow lighting isn't that strong, but I think the camera just soaks it up better. Why NH doesn't get BSI on it's B737s, I have no idea. Even the B738s they are receiving right now don't have it.

      I was lucky to catch the LH A343 touching down, I was on the wrong side of the plane to see it coming. Since we held short of the runway, I figured it was for a plane landing.

      Some more NH338s will be coming and they will have drink services, so this was a special case and I was not happy about it.
  • Comment 150575 by
    757Fan 632 Comments
    Nice photos from your trip with ANA. How long is the flight? Sorry to hear no drink service was done; how bizarre.

    Looking forward to your next report from NRT to ORD!

    • Comment 328566 by
      NGO85 SILVER AUTHOR 1963 Comments
      Thanks for commenting and welcome to the site!

      NGO-NRT is usually 45-50 minutes wheels up to wheels down depending on the route. This is the only time I've never had a beverage service (NH/JL).
  • Comment 150605 by
    KL651 TEAM 4534 Comments
    Thanks for this FR.

    What a shame not even to offer water, especially taking into account the average price on Japanese fares!

    Is it a standard policy or just a lazy crew you got?
    • Comment 328613 by
      NGO85 SILVER AUTHOR 1963 Comments
      Thank you for your comments.

      Standard policy is a limited drink service (water, apple juice, tea, consume, or coffee). They claimed it was because of the turbulence on the ascent that the FAs were slightly delayed being released. A very weak excuse considering they had time to go through the cabin twice to solicate Sky Shop orders.
  • Comment 150644 by
    KévinDC TEAM SILVER 6668 Comments
    Oh good, I got my NGO planespotting fix--it had been too long :-P
    So I get that it's a really short flight, but not even water was offered? IF UA can pull off a drink service on a 20 minute MKE-ORD flight, NH can certainly do at least a water run on an almost hour flight. I've been in Y on short flight on DL where they offer no service, like DCA-JFK, which can be as short as 40 minutes flying time, and they at least make a water run (usually), no need to get carts out. You're right that if they can hock the Sky Shop stuff, they should have tried to do a quick service of some sort. Service should come before sales.
    • Comment 328625 by
      NGO85 SILVER AUTHOR 1963 Comments
      Thanks for stopping by Kevin!

      Oh good, I got my NGO planespotting fix--it had been too long :-P
      - Do you need to change your underwear? Honestly, I'm really going to miss NGO :(

      It was completely unacceptable. They already offer a reduced drink menu on domestic flights, it's not that difficult for them to complete it in time. As I said, 75% of the Japanese passengers are fast asleep anyways so they are really only serving drinks to 25% of the passengers. In all honesty, it wouldn't have been that annoying if they didn't have drink service, but the audacity to do the Sky Shop stuff instead is just disgusting. I've been on US domestic flights where they try their best to serve everyone on a short time frame; run out of time and whoever didn't get served, didn't get served. But at least they tried!
  • Comment 156134 by
    MrMax 142 Comments
    Thanks for the great FR. From this and your NRT-NGO FR I'm realising that NH domestic service semms to not be very good. I'm very surprised. I did a little resarch, and it turns out that Captain Park refers to Park Ji-sung, who is apparently a footbal player for a team that Tony Fernandes owns (The plane was an AirAsia A333, and Tony Fernandes is the CEO of AirAsisa).

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