#31 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings.
232 reviews
Hey everyone, welcome to installment 3 of my Japanese adventure of June 2023! After a week in Tokyo, it was time to continue the journey on to Osaka. While the initial plan was to head to the next Asian destination from Kansai, I ultimately decided to extend my Japan stay for another few days. Despite that, I had already booked a flight from Tokyo to Osaka, as well as a hotel at Kansai Airport, so I figured I might as well take a quick 1 day trip to Japan's third-largest city: Osaka!
As such, here we are: join me for a quick hop from Haneda to Kansai aboard one of ANA's A321neos!
Three reports into this series, here's how it looks like on the Great Circle Mapper:
This short flight was booked for $95. Flights between Tokyo and Osaka seem to have fixed pricing, which is lovely.
Like so many others, I'm in constant awe of Japan's public transportation systems. I had taken the Tokyo Monorail from Haneda to Hamamatsuchō upon my arrival, however, starting from Kanda station on the day of travel, I decided to take the Yamanote Line to Shinagawa and then switch to the Keikyū Main Line.
Japan being Japan, it was not at all difficult to figure out where on the platform to stand in order to get on the correct train.
I had to wait for around 10 minutes for my train, and the ride itself took around 16 minutes.
International flights from Haneda depart and arrive at Terminal 3, whereas domestic flights leave from Terminal 1 (JAL) and Terminal 2 (ANA).
The two domestic terminals are linked by the train station. Taking an escalator up to the departure hall of T2, the view is seriously impressive.
Haneda may just be my favorite airport in the world, given how open it is. Despite being one of the busiest airports on the planet, the whole experience, both landside and airside, is honestly just serene.
I headed to a check-in kiosk to print out my boarding pass.
Before clearing security, I went up to the spotting terrace to get a glimpse at all the beautiful ANA jets, each getting ready to transport hundreds of passengers across Japan.
The 777-200ER was heading off to Okinawa, and the neighboring 787-9 to Fukuoka.
On the other side, a 787-8 had just arrived from Hiroshima, and in the distance a rare non-ER 777-300 was preparing to head up north to Sapporo.
Once airside, I mostly roamed around the terminal until it was time to board.
A quick side note - as someone who spent many years in the Seattle area, I smiled every time I saw Tully's Coffee in Japan. The formerly Seattle-based chain went bust in the US, but is still thriving in Japan!
Solaseed Air 737-800 arriving from Miyazaki. I hope to come back to Japan and fly on all of their airlines!
A gorgeous ANA lineup.
This ANA 767-300ER had just arrived from Kumamoto as I walked past.
My flight to Kansai would be departing from gate 70, at the Southern end of T2.
Shortly after I got to the gate, my aircraft arrived from Akita.
Doing the honors would be JA133A, a 2018-built Airbus A321neo delivered straight to ANA in May of that year.
Our flight was slightly delayed, and boarding finally began around 1:45 PM.
The general public in Japan really seems to love aviation, as many people stopped to take a picture of our ordinary A321neo before heading inside.
Perhaps my only grievance with Haneda is the fact that the jetbridges are super plain on the inside, though I think that's only an issue at T2.
A look at the nose…
…the fuselage…
…and the entryway before getting on board.
As is to be expected with Japanese airlines, the greeting at the door was very warm. I made my way toward my seat, giddy as a little kid hearing ANA's boarding music blasting over the PA.
My initial impressions of the cabin were very positive. It felt fresh, comfy, and I loved the blue.
My seat for the ride westbound was 21K.
Legroom was solid…
…the seatback pocket was filled with a safety instructions card and two airsickness bags…
…and perhaps best of all, each seat was equipped with a PTV. The selection was mostly in Japanese, but considering that these A321neos exclusively fly within Japan (and usually between Tokyo and more secondary cities), that's fine.
Each seat also had a leather antimacassar, adding a premium feel to the cabin.
PSU.
Great view of the trailing edge of the wing from my seat.
Not that it mattered on such a short flight, but for the third time of this trip, I scored a free row!
Can we also take a moment to appreciate the fact that by the time you board your ANA flight, you have not one, not two, but three different boarding documents?
As we pushed back, the safety video began to screen.
Taxiing to Runway 5 for takeoff.
Despite taxiing with gusto, it took us a good 10 minutes to reach the runway. We were also the first aircraft of the day to depart from Runway 5, as the last aircraft landed in the opposite direction as we were taxiing to the runway.
Liftoff.
Looking back towards Haneda.
Mt. Fuji in the distance.
Yokohama down below.
Right turn over Kamakura, with an even better view of Mt. Fuji.
Not much to see outside.
I mostly browsed through the IFE during the flight, and before I knew it, we had already commenced our descent towards Osaka.
With Kansai Airport visible from my window, the flight attendants reached my row for a drink service. Only juice is offered as a part of the service, which isn't great, though still beyond acceptable for the short flight.
The juice was served in an awesome 767 cup, which miraculously survived the journey back to Europe and has been given second life as my change jar!
I still had time to use the restroom, which was of course impeccably clean (though without a bidet, unfortunately).
Turning right over the southern tip of Awaji Island. Despite Kansai being visible since the drink service, we still had a good 25 minutes of flight time left until landing due to the arrival pattern, which you'll see at the end of this report.
Kansai visible on our downwind leg.
Turning right base…
…and final.
Bonus points to ANA for installing nosecams on their A321neos.
Very short final…
…and a wickedly smooth landing on Runway 24R at 3:33 PM, 18 minutes late, after being airborne for 1 hour and 8 minutes.
Taxiing to the apron…
…and pulling into our gate near an ANA 737-800 from Sapporo.
Final look at my seat.
Thanks for the ride, JA133A!
Into the jetbridge, and off to explore Osaka for 22 hours!
Stayed tuned for part 4, coming soon!
Not a lot to say here... A quick flight of barely an hour hardly gives ANA a chance to shine, but the crew was great, the drinks were tasty, and the cabins were just about as good as they come for coach on a narrowbody. I'd be curious to see what the passengers in Business Class got on this flight. As for airports, Haneda is an easy 10/10 for me, while Kansai is nice and clean, but reaaaaaaally far out from the city.
5 Comments
KIX and NGO are both unfortunately very far from the city center, but that is the sacrifice they made in order to allow for cargo operations outside of night curfews (NRT has the worst of both worlds, far from city and night curfew). KIX is particularly bad since the cost to access the city on the Haruka line is almost $30 and takes about an hour.
Technically a domestic First product. Even if you have an international J ticket, you will be booked into Y fare class for the domestic leg. You only get access to NH's domestic Premium Class with an international F ticket. They do a bento box service (see: https://flight-report.com/en/report/20115/ANA-NH-512-Miyazaki-KMI-Osaka-ITM/). I think I saw they have changed the presentation, but contents are pretty much what you could expect.
The legroom looks fine, the personal IFE for such a short flight is great! Where I live (Israel) most of the narrow body aircraft that come here, aren't equipped with overhead screen! And you had personal IFE and Wifi! It's great!
Did they serve food on the flight? I saw that they served drinks in your FR.
Thanks for sharing!
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