Review of ANA flight from Kuala Lumpur to Tokyo in Economy

ANA NH886 KUALA LUMPUR - TOKYO HANEDA (24.10.2024)

Flight Details:
Airlines: All Nippon Airways (ANA)
Flight: NH886 KUL-HND
Reg: JA895A
Aircraft: Boeing 787-9
Departure - KUL (UTC+8): 14.21
Arrival - HND (UTC+9): 22.14
Flight time: 6 hours 53 minutes

INTRODUCTION

This was my first trip to Japan. Japan is renowned for its hospitality, characterized by the concept of 'omotenashi' which translates to "selfless hospitality". I was curious to experience this even before I set foot in the country and so I reckon-ed, why not take a flight with a Japanese airline? Therefore, my journey to Japan begins with catching an All Nippon Airways (ANA) flight. At time of purchase, they were cool to offer a deal where you could get domestic flights within Japan for free or for cheap if you are purchasing return tickets with ANA to Japan. I opted for two domestic flights (HND -> ITM) and (ITM -> NRT) to explore the Kansai region.

CHECK IN

I did not check in online prior to arriving at the airport (KUL) as I had reserved my seat when I purchased my flight tickets. 
Check in was done at the Main Terminal Building of KUL and there was a considerable queue which lasted around 10 mins.

Fortunately, the queue wasn't too long till it was my turn to check in.

ANA provides Economy Class passengers on long-haul international flights with 2x23 kg check-in baggage allowance (total: 46kg) which in my opinion, is very generous for this class of travel.

The staff that handled my check-in was courteous and respectful. As I was only checking-in 16kg of baggage and keeping the rest of my belongings as carry-ons, she took the initiative to clarify if I had wanted to check in my remaining stuff to which I declined but am glad she asked.

Boarding pass:

DEPARTURE AIRPORT

KUL, also known as KLIA, despite its name, is not located within the territory of Kuala Lumpur but in its adjacent state, Selangor. To be fair, this is quite the norm for many newer airports in the world due to limited land space in cities.
I do have to note, this airport is situated 50+ km away from the heart of Kuala Lumpur and so travelling here takes some time.

Fairly empty on a Thursday afternoon: 

An interesting discovery…KUL is not served by one, not two but 4 different ground handling services. ANA flights from KUL are served by POS Aviation, a subsidiary of Malaysia's postal company.

Immigration clearance was smooth (within a minute) as my passport granted me the use of the Auto gate feature.
The departure gate, C17 is situated in the Satellite Building of KUL.
There used to be an Aerotrain service (Airport People Mover) to the Satellite Building, but it has been suspended for some months due to faults and will likely not see any service in the near future. In its place, a low-floor shuttle bus service was provided. 

Pro: You can see some cool-looking planes along the way.
Con: You would have to walk more to reach the bus compared to taking the Aerotrain. 

AIRCRAFT

The aircraft I am flying today is a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft.
As of writing, ANA remains the largest operator of Boeing 787 with 83 airframes in service, 42 of which is the -9 variant I am taking today.
The star of the day is registered JA895A, aged 7 years and was delivered to ANA in Oct 2017. 

BOARDING

Boarding commenced on-time and was smooth.
The staff that handled the boarding were courteous and smiling.
Gate C17 is positioned in a way where you can't see the aircraft clearly, so unfortunately no close-up shots of the plane.
Fortunately, 2 airbridges were in use at this gate. 

SEAT and LEGROOM

I picked seat 32A, a window seat on the left-side of the plane.

View out from seat 32A while the plane is at the gate: 

The seat pitch is 34 inches which gives a very spacious legroom for Economy standards.
Seat width is standard at 17.3 inches and the seats are arranged in a 3-3-3 configuration.
It is the largest legroom I have experienced flying Economy among the 19 airlines I have taken so far.
The seat is reclinable but thanks to the legroom, I didn't find myself needing to recline.
There's a standard pillow and blanket provided in the seat for use in the flight.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take a pic of the seat and the legroom, bummer :(

The cabin interiors were clean and that extends to the seat pockets.
To add to the ambience, this Dreamliner came with "mood lighting" which is very pleasant to look at.

Safety card (front and reverse): 

DEPARTURE

The flight took off from KUL, slightly delayed at 02:34 PM (MYT), was scheduled at 02:25 PM which wasn't a big deal as the plane did make it in Tokyo on-time (more details below). 

A view of Kuala Lumpur including the iconic Bukit Jalil National Stadium as the Dreamliner made its ascent to the skies. Goodbye Kuala Lumpur!

The plane's wings have this distinctive Rising Sun icon.

FLIGHT ROUTE

Today's flight takes us east over the Titiwangsa mountain range that straddles between the west and east coast of Peninsular Malaysia before banking in a north-easterly direction over the South China Sea, flying past the Philippines, Taiwan, Okinawa Islands and eventually reaching the eastern seaboard of Japan's main island, Honshu. 

WELCOME SNACK AND DRINK

As we reached cruising altitude, the cabin crew served some Rice Cracker snacks and drinks along with an environment-friendly napkin that feels nice to the touch. 
I opted for a Suntory Malt. They taste good!

IN FLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT

The IFE monitor and remote control were fully functional but were a little dated for their designs considering the age of the aircraft.
The screen size is approx. 9 inches, fairly standard, though it is smaller than Economy on some other airlines which have been offering 10+ inches for some time.
The UI is relatively straightforward to use, but not the smoothest nor most intuitive I have witnessed for this class of service.

ANA has an in-flight magazine which you could browse on the IFE screen. You may also opt to request for a physical copy from the cabin crew. The magazine is mostly written in Japanese with very little English content, so it is a little less useful for non-Japanese speakers.

Here's a look at the ANA domestic network route map, very complex! 

ANA does provide a moderate selection of movies, TV shows and music, both Western and Japanese.
I decided to have a go at a Japanese movie titled "we made a beautiful bouquet". English subtitles are available.

Awesome movie, 9/10! Do prepare some tissues, though.
Movie credits: 

CABIN CREW

The cabin crew were friendly and all smiles. The uniform is distinctive and includes elements of Japanese designs, a feature I like to see when flying with national carriers around the world.

There was a moment where I was waiting for a lavatory on the left side of the cabin and wasn't aware of a vacant one on the right. The cabin crew took the initiative to inform me. 

As a bonus, a stewardess gave me 5 awesome-looking postcards featuring their iconic Star Wars-themed B787, special-liveried A380s, B777 and Mt.Fuji when I requested for one. ANA really knows how to make their planes look cool and stand out from the rest! 

And to top it off, she even gave me a cool gift pack containing some children toys.

There's really no complains of the in-flight service though if you would like to pinpoint, a slight drawback when compared to other 5-star airlines is the crew's relative weaker command of English which to be fair, is expected for a non-English-speaking country.
It wasn't an issue in general, but it got a bit tricky with more specific requests.

In sum, the crew exhibited true professionalism throughout the flight.

IN FLIGHT WIFI

ANA has an inflight Wi-Fi service, but as of writing, it is not complimentary for Economy and Premium Economy. It wasn't mentioned if it's free for ANA loyalty members travelling in Economy though I suspect it is not. Personally, I think this is a minor disadvantage as a handful of airlines are already rolling out complimentary (limited) Wi-Fi service to Economy customers.
I chose not to use the service for this flight and opted to enjoy a little "digital detox".

IN FLIGHT MEAL

Dinner was served an hour+ into the flight at approximately 4pm MYT.
There were 2 options to choose from. A trilingual menu with pictures was provided which is good for avoiding any miscommunication. 

The cabin crew serving the food and drinks were very polite. True hospitality!

I opted for (A) Chicken Teriyaki.

The chicken and sauce tasted good, the steamed rice was fluffy and fragrant, and the portion was adequate.
If there's anything to improve, I would wish it's a little bit warmer.
 
The colors of the shrimp and quinoa salad added some vibrance to the tray and was delicious.

There's also a small serving of cold udon noodles.

complemented with Malaysian crackers, cheese and a garden salad with dressings as well as a bottle of water. 

ANA does provide stainless steel cutlery i.e. fork, spoon and a knife which is very commendable for Economy. It really makes cutting meat easier when compared to plastic/wood cutlery offered in Economy on most other airlines.

There's however, no ice-cream on this flight :(
I did have it on other subsequent ANA flights.

There was another snack served before arrival, a simple tuna sandwich. 

APPROACH AND LANDING

As we approached Tokyo at night, it was pitch black outside so there was no photo opportunity out the window.

But fret not, the IFE has this very cool-looking head up display (HUD) simulation to give you this feeling as if you are flying the plane. 
You can see the Google Earth view of Haneda Airport beneath as the plane made the final descent onto the runway.

The landing at Haneda Airport (HND) was relatively smooth and on-time at 10:09PM (JST). The plane taxied for a while, and we arrived at the gate at Terminal 3 at 10:14PM (JST). 

I was lucky as the gate we rolled in was very near to the arrivals lounge. Hi Tokyo! 

ARRIVAL AIRPORT

HND is one of two major airports serving the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. ANA does fly to both HND and NRT from KUL, but I opted for HND as it is actually situated within Tokyo and therefore nearer to my stay. NRT, on the other hand is situated in an adjacent prefecture, Chiba.

Unlike KUL, HND gates in Terminal 3 are all in the same main building so no trains or buses are needed to head for the Arrivals. I personally prefer this design as sometimes the trains or buses could see bottlenecks in human traffic during peak travel seasons or arrival hours. 

ARRIVAL IMMIGRATION

Immigration clearance was smooth and relatively quick. I managed to clear it within 8 minutes, from the start of queue to having my passport stamped by the officer. This was with the Visit Japan QR code prepared in advanced before the flight.

No pics here as photography is prohibited in this area.

BAGGAGE RECLAIM

Baggage reclaim was smooth. There's a short wait for my bags (I guess due to the large number of flights and bags getting checked-in but could also be due to how fast clearing immigration was). This turned out to be the part that consumed the most time in arrivals (vs immigration/customs/walking in terminal). Nevertheless, it was done in 15-20 minutes, and my check-in bags were completely accounted for and not damaged.

TRANSIT TO CITY

HND has a few transit options to the city and beyond. I have to thank ANA's on time-ness for this flight, Haneda's speedy immigration clearance and its single-building layout design for allowing me to catch a train at 11:10PM on the Keikyu line, well within an hour of the plane arriving at the gate. 

THANKS for reading. This is my first ever write-up on Flight-Report :) Happy travels!