At the Airport.
Thank you for reading this review. This review will cover ANA's economy class from Tokyo to Sydney.
Not so long ago, ANA shifted many of its international flights from terminal 3, which is the main hub for international flights at Haneda, over to terminal 2. Obviously there had to be a new area built for international flights, so the area feels very new.
Remember, this "terminal" only hosts select ANA international flights, so you won't expect it to be very busy and you won't see much queues. Both immigration and security went fast and efficiently. There were a few shops and some lounges in the airside but nothing really special.
I was pretty tired, so I decided to just head to the gate. Turns out it was a bus gate for this flight. Always excites me lol.
Boarding
Boarding commenced at around 10:18pm. In the common Japanese style, boarding is split into groups. Group 1 being status members and those who need special assistance, and so on. I was in the very last group, so I had to wait a lot. Eventually my group was called.
It was quite a long ride to the airplane. Great for me as an avgeek, being able to see planes from so close.
Turns out I would be flying ANA's Pokemon Jet! What a suprise!
Flight and Aircraft Information
Flight :NH879 (HND-SYD)
Aircraft :B787-9
REG: JA894A
MSN: 34517
Line Number: 605
Age: 6.9 years
Cabin and Seat
ANA's B787-9 have 2 different configurations. One with 246 seats and another with 215. This jet has the more denser 246 seat configuration. My seat was 21C, an aisle seat right behind the premium economy cabin.
The seat is very comfortable and comes with a lot of features. There's a well sized IFE screen with a remote, a coat hook, foldable tray table, a seatpocket with plenty of pockets and a footrest. Adjustable headrest and amazing legroom as well.
The Flight
ANA offers Wi-Fi on its flights. Its not free and the prices were on the higher side. I bought the full flight plane which was about $21. Though for the price, the speed was pretty slow.
In terms of the IFE screen, it was fine. It wasn't the best ever compared to other airlines but it was sufficient enough. There was a detailed flight map so I used that for most of the flight but I didn't really watch anything.
Around an hour after taking off, the dinner service commenced. There were 2 options, a tendon or a chicken katsu curry. I chose the second option.
The presentaion of the meal is absolutely phenomenal. Everything is cleanly presented and looks delicious. The portions is also great, having a main meal and 3 side dishes and even a bread roll. Can't forget about the drink too, I chose a Pepsi. When it comes to taste, it was incredible. I really can't explain it any further, it was just amazing.
For desert, we were served a cup of Haagen-Dazs ice cream. This was delicious, no complains and a nice way to finish off the incredible dinner.
Using the Wi-Fi, I could use Flightradar 24 to see where we were at. I absolutely love doing this!
For the night, I decided to get some sleep. The generous recline combined with the footrest and spacious legroom made sleeping comfortable. Also, a pillow and blanket was also provided.
I woke up around 2 hours before landing, just in time for the second meal service. This was a bit disappointing.
We were served a meal box with a chicken sandwich, yoghurt, fruit and a kitkat. Now, this was delicious and all, but what really disappoints me is, compared to the dinner which was served earlier, this lacks presentation and portions.
Right before landing, we were all given this envelope for flying with the Pokemon jet. How cool is this!
The contents was a boarding certificate and a little keyholder which was really cute.
Not so long after we started landing and we landed at Sydney's Kindsford Smith Airport right on time.
Disembarking
Because I was seated towards the very front of the economy class cabin, I was able to get off rather quickly off the plane. Sydney Airport was nothing really special but because there were quite some airlines which landed at the same time at us, there were some queues.
Love the SYD sign!
Thats going to conclude this FR. Thanks for reading!
Thanks for sharing this FR on NH’s long-haul product. Probably easy to spot the people on your flight at the airport since they all are walking around with down jackets in ~40C weather^^ Lucky to get the Pickachu Jet, don’t think I’ve seen this livery before. Surprised they still call it “operated by Air Japan” with the rotation of aircraft back into the mainline fleet with the formal spin out of NQ earlier this year.
The dinner service looks excellent for Y, but serving a cold boxed breakfast on a 9h flight has cost cutting written all over it and really can’t be competitive to what JL offers. Pretty sure NH still serve hot breakfasts to the US on shorter flights. Overall, NH offers a very good Y product.
Very comfortable flight in my opinion. Good food but disappointing breakfast.
Nice review! The legroom looks very good, though ANA can't compete with JAL's super spacious 2-4-2 configuration on 787, the cabin looks quite nice and comfortable overall.
The first meal looks great! Japanese carriers are really good at having nice meals with good presentation in Economy.
Wow, didn't see that coming! I was not expecting to see a US/European-style snack box as the 2nd meal. With a recent review on Singapore having the same, it seems like it's a trend on flights to/from Australia. How crazy...this flight is 10h, that's not short!
Thanks for sharing!
Hi Kevin, thanks for commenting. I do agree with you, JAL’s 2-4-2 config in economy on a 787 is unbeatable. Other than that though ANA and JAL definitely competes strongly in both its soft and hard product, though that second meal was depressing. Apart from that, it was a comfortable flight.