Review of Japan Airlines flight Osaka → Tokyo in Business

introduction

Welcome back, dear reader, to part 4 of my adventures to and through Japan! When last we saw each other, I had just deplaned an ANA A321neo at Kansai Airport. A mere 22 hours later, I was already on my way to Osaka's other airport, Itami, to catch my flight back to Haneda.

While booking the return flight, I was presented with a massive dilemma. Flights from Itami to Haneda are flown virtually every 30 minutes and appear to be price-fixed at around $100 one way in Economy on both ANA and JAL. The majority of flights are also flown on widebody aircraft - the A350 with JAL, and Boeing 767s, 777s, and 787s with both ANA and JAL. While booking, I knew that I wanted to fly on a 767. It's one of my favorite aircraft types, and becoming rarer and rarer in the skies outside of the US and Japan. I knew I had to seize the chance to fly on a 767 while I still could. Ideally, I also wanted to sit in front of the engine, so I could hear the brilliant roar of the CFM56 engine - again, one of my favorite engines which is also becoming increasingly rare.

Wanting a mid-afternoon flight, four 767 flights on the two main airlines were options - NH28 at 2 PM and NH30 at 3 PM, as well as JL118 at 1:30 PM and JL120 at 2:30 PM. Price-wise, both JAL flights were the same price, and so was NH28. None of these had available window seats. NH30 had one window seat left in the very back of the aircraft, but was pricing higher, at around $120. I was leaning towards booking NH30 when I realized that JAL sold their domestic Business Class product - named "Class J" - for $115. This once again made my decision difficult. All JAL flights had Class J space available, but window seats were only open on a morning A350 flight and an evening 777 flight.

Finally, I decided on booking flight JL120 in Class J. I wouldn't have a window seat, but as a consolation prize, I'd have a couple of minutes of hearing one of the greatest engines of all time roaring at takeoff power. As an AvGeek, I figured that was worth it. And I'd fly on a new airline, which is always fun.

With that in mind, note that the inflight photos in this report are not near my usual standard, but I hope that nevertheless you'll enjoy this domestic Japanese Business Class experience to the fullest. Let's get into it!

itinerary

At installment 4 of this series, here's how the map of travel is shaping up:

getting to the airport

I spent the night at a hotel near Kansai Airport, given that my original plan was to fly out of Kansai early in the morning. The journey to the city from Kansai takes a good hour, and I also wanted to check out the Osaka Castle before flying out, so I left my hotel around 10 AM and took a train to the center of Osaka.

I must've have been in such a rush to quickly visit the castle, as it turns out the only picture I took of it in landscape mode was a selfie.

If you are ever in Osaka, I can definitely recommend a visit. The castle was stunning, and the surrounding garden was a great place to tome tranquility in Japan's second-largest metropolitan area!

On the other side of the castle, a view of the Osaka Business Park.

One final glimpse at the majestic structure before heading to Itami.

On the way to the airport, I switched trains at Umeda station. I mean, can a station get much cooler than this?

I so wanted to get outside of Umeda station and wander around the area, but alas, I had a flight to catch. After grabbing a peek at the Hep Five Ferries Wheel, it was time to head back inside and catch my train to the airport. At that moment, I vowed to return to Osaka as soon as possible and give it the justice it deserve by exploring it for more than just an evening and a morning!

I jumped aboard a Takarazuka Main Line train moments before the door closed, and soon enough we were pulling out of Umeda.

It was about a 20-minute ride on the train to Hotarugaike station…

…from where a monorail takes you on the final 3-minute stretch to Itami.

Itami Airport is located literally in the middle of the everything, as you can see with its control tower a matter of yards away from residential buildings.

First glimpse of the action at Itami - an Ibex CRJ700 and a large ANA hangar.

osaka itami airport (itm)

At around 1:15 PM, I was in the departures hall of North Terminal, where JAL operates from.

I got my boarding pass from a self-service kiosk (and was helped by a delightful ground agent), and soon after headed up to security, which was a breeze. And of course, Japan being Japan, slippers were offered to those who did not want to walk through the checkpoint without shoes on.

Once airside, I was actually surprised at how modern Itami is. I knew it was an older airport, but it looked super fresh and definitely incorporated Japanese features into its design.

I bought some souvenirs and ventured deeper into the terminal.

The food court consisted of mostly Japanese options, but I wasn't hungry enough to have a full meal. Instead, I'd buy something to eat onboard.

Checking out some of the traffic at the JAL terminal. It was mostly empty, safe for JL118, loading up for its departure back to Haneda…

…and this cute little J-Air E190, between a flight from Kagoshima and to Izumo.

At the airport, I learned that earlier in the day two aircraft had collided at Haneda, delaying many departures, including that of my inbound aircraft. If only I had found out while still at Umeda, I would have been able to explore more of Osaka. Instead, I was happy to find out that the North and South terminal were linked airside, so I decided to go and inspect the state of affairs over in ANA territory.

The biggest thing happening at the time was the loading of this good-looking 777-200ER for its journey down to Okinawa.

I ventured further down the terminal to where ANA's Dash 8s depart.

Some of you may know that I absolutely love Dash 8s after flying them a lot back in my Innsbruck days. Combine a Dash 8 with ANA, and now you've really got something awesome. I hope to fly on some ANA Dash 8s whenever I return back to Japan!

This Dash 8 was chilling before a flight to Kumamoto…

…this one had just arrived from Niigata…

…and this one had just arrived from Miyazaki.

Overall, it was a pretty quiet afternoon at Itami.

I headed back to my gate just in time to catch the arrival of the star of the day, and it sure was a special aircraft. JA614J, a December 2005-built Boeing 767-300ER, had rolled out of the paint shop with a brand-new Tokyo Disney Resort 40th Anniversary Livery just the day before! The paintjob was so new, not even Flightradar24 had a picture of it.

It took a while longer for the aircraft to get ready, so in the meantime I just floated around the gate area. I asked the gate agent if by any chance a window seat had opened up, but she extremely politely told me no and apologized profusely.

Spotted a JAL crew headed to their aircraft.

My aircraft also had a crew change before heading back to Haneda.

boarding + initial impressions

At around 2:55 PM, boarding was called. I'm still in awe at how orderly and quick the boarding process was. I was in Group 5, the final group, and boarded the aircraft within 7 minutes of the commencement of boarding.

Starting down the jetway.

I definitely wasn't the only one who loved our special livery!

Hey Mickey!

Heading into the aircraft.

I was a bit surprised that there was no welcome at the door, but as I stepped further into the galley, two flight attendants were enthusiastically greeting everyone.

JAL does back-to-front boarding, so Class J passengers are the last to board. I was one of the very last onboard, so unfortunately I couldn't take many great cabin pictures.

Fortunately, 9H and K were still empty as I boarded, so I could snag a picture.

Less than 24 hours after entering service, and JA614J's cabin had already been Disney-fied with appropriate antimacassars.

As expected, legroom in Class J was exceptional.

In the seatback pocket, the safety card, an airsickness bag, and JAL's inflight magazine.

Refurbished 767 PSU.

Cabin during boarding.

JAL's signature boarding music was playing. It's nice, though I do prefer ANA's.

japan airlines 120 - osaka itami to tokyo haneda

Within 15 minutes of boarding beginning, the doors were closed, and we pushed back to begin our journey back to Japan's capital. As we pushed back, the safety video was screened.

In the distance, some of Osaka's skyline and an ANA 737-800 taking off to Miyazaki.

Lining up on Runway 32L.

Rotating past the ANA Dash farm…

…and the other 767 I could have been on, JA614A, pushing back to Haneda as NH28.

Final views of Osaka.

I didn't take long for us to reach our very low cruising altitude of 15,000 feet. Despite the persistent chop and the fact the the seatbelt sign stayed on for the entire flight, the cabin crew sprung to action to perform a drink service.

Class J tickets don't include lounge access or meals, instead I believe the service is the same as in Economy Class. All that is offered in First Class, which is only available on select domestic aircraft. My 767 had 1 row of First Class, and it was sold for about $220 if I remember correctly.

Still, the extra comfort of the seat was worth it, and the service was exceptional. I drank green tea and ate some delicious sandwiches I bought at Itami.

On the bulkhead screen, the map was shown, as well as some videos promoting JAL Mileage Bank.

As the cabin crew came around to collect the trash, I gave the bag in which my food from Itami came. A few minutes later, I noticed that my video camera was nowhere to be found. I wasn't really using it, since I didn't see much outside, but I had to find it. I figured I might have put it back in my backpack, as I did briefly stand up to put some things in my bag during the flight. It was too bumpy to stand up again, so I would just have to wait until we landed in Haneda to find out.

In the meantime, Mt. Fuji was looking gorgeous out the left hand window.

On the right side, some of the Tokyo Islands were in sight.

It sort of broke my heart when I realized that we'd be flying the famous approach to Haneda's Runway 16L right over Tokyo and I didn't have a window seat, but I knew that at some point I would be back and enjoy the approach from the window. But on this flight, I had to make the most of it from my aisle seat. The first glimpse of Tokyo came with what I believe is the Shinshiba River.

Perhaps the silver lining of sitting in 9G was that I could look out both the left and right windows. Out the right, I could see that we were flying a parallel approach with an Air Do 737-700 from Sapporo.

Back on the left side, the very top of Tokyo Tower and the skyscrapers of Hamamatsuchō.

A long Shinkansen on the right…

…before Haneda came into our sights.

An ANA 787-8 lining up for it's flight to Matsuyama…

With a JAL 737-800 to Takamatsu waiting behind.

My three favorite airlines in one picture.

An America-dominated Terminal 3 in the distance.

Air Do's Pokémon Rokon 767.

And a smooth touchdown just at the Tokyo sign of Terminal 2 at 4:19 PM, 34 minutes late, after a flight time of 57 minutes.

Pulling into a gate as a JAL 767 was pushing back to Tokushima.

a shoutout to the best crew ever

As we arrived at the gate and passengers began to deplane, I pulled my bag from the overhead bin and emptied everything in order to search for my lost video camera. I emptied absolutely everything, and found no video camera.

At this point, I was one of the last people on the aircraft and I went to the main galley to tell the purser that I lost the camera. Then, the entire cabin crew began helping me search for it around my seat. I figured maybe it had fallen into the seat somehow, so they opened to seat - to no avail.

I realized that the final hope was that I may have accidentally place it in the bag that I had given them with trash. I described the bag, and right away, 5 flight attendants started going through every piece of trash in their carts. Finally, I heard cheers as one of the flight attendants found it.

Not only did she find it, but she and others took it out of its holder and disinfected both the holder and the camera. I was so touched at the help that I didn't know what to say, and as if that wasn't already enough, the purser asked me if I wanted a model airplane. Thinking that at this point I was living in a dream, I of course said yes, and she ran to the back of the aircraft and came back with a tiny A350 model and some postcards, as well as a small certificate of boarding of the Disney 767.

Only in Japan would such kindness from the entire crew exist. Words can't express my gratitude to the crew, and I thanked them with all the little Japanese I can speak. I asked for a selfie, and they kindly obliged. I will never forget this awesome crew, and thanks to them, JAL is now one of my top 3 airlines, along with ANA (and United of course). If anyone from JAL is reading this, you are lucky to have these fine ladies working for you! どうもありがとう ございます!

One final look at JA614J…

…and the model A350 gift…

…which is now standing in my apartment…

…along with the other goodies from this incredible crew that made a short sub-1-hour flight one of the most memorable in my life.

A last look at our routing.

Thanks for reading, and apologies again for the low-quality pictures from during the flight! See you in the next round…