December 14th was an important day for JAL. The Japanese carrier has in fact taken delivery of one of the most important upgrades to its fleet in quite some time. The first Airbus A350-1000 fitted with the new and revolutionary premium cabins has joined the Japanese carrier’s fleet. Also we now know where the plane will start flying once it enters service with JAL. So let’s take a closer look at what the new plane offers and where it’ll fly.
JAL’s First A350-1000, What Does it Offer?
The plane is quite a big deal for the Japanese carrier. JAL will be progressively replacing its ageing fleet of Boeing 777-300ER with the A350-1000. The planes have similar capacity and the A350 new generation technology should ensure significant fuel burn savings.
However what is most interesting and remarkable about these new Japan Airlines planes are not the performance specs. What makes this new plane, and the 12 more that will follow, truly noteworthy are the interiors and the hard-product upgrade.
The new A350-1000s are fitted with completely revisited First Class and Business Class cabins. Specifically, First Class seats will be completely enclosed in a similar fashion to what Singapore Airlines and Etihad Airways offer on their A380 First Classes.
In Business class there will be QSuite style enclosed seats which, get this, will be earphone free. Each seat will have built-in stereo headrest speakers. Initial reviews are very positive of this new technology. We’ll see if it’ll be something other airlines will imitate or it’ll be more of a gimmick.
The overall configuration of the new Japan Airlines Airbus A350-1000 is quite a premium heavy one. These planes will feature:
- 6 First Class Suites in a 1-1-1 layout
- 54 Business Class Seats in a 1-2-1 layout
- 24 Premium Economy Seats in a 2-4-2 layout
- 155 Economy Class Seats in a 3-3-3 layout
Image by Airbus
Where Will the A350-1000 Fly?
We also now know where the airline will be flying the first of its Airbus A350-1000s. The first 2 A350-1000s will both fly to the United States. The first A350-1000, JA01WJ, will enter service on the Tokyo Haneda (HND) to New York (JFK) route. This will be the case from January 24th 2024.
Initially flights will see the A350-1000 on the Tokyo-New York route every second day. It’ll later be on the route on a daily basis once the airline receives its second plane by March 2024.
Finally with the arrival of the third Airbus ULR plane JAL intends to deploy it on the Tokyo to Dallas Fort Worth route.
Why Does It Work For JAL and Not Emirates?
We all heard about Emirates‘ President’s criticism of the A350 and of its engines at the Dubai Airshow. So why does this plane work for JAL and not for Emirates on ULR services?
Simply put it’s a matter of location where the airlines are based. There are still some issues to be solved with the XWB engines when operating constantly in hot and sandy environments. However Japan has a very different climate which allows the jet to perform much better with much longer time on wing for the engines.
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