NRT-MNL
JL745 (operated by JALWays) Executive Seasons Class
Dep. 18.20
Boeing 747-400
Seat 10K


I hopped on the Skytrain to T2 satellite, where my flight was leaving from, but seeing the scrum of people crowding the gate area I decided to head into the Sakura lounge close to my gate for refuge.

I walked over in time for the boarding time written on my BP, but there were even more people as the girls at the gate were running around trying to sort out the wheelchair passengers. I lined up in the business class queue which was pretty short. Once onboard, I felt like I'd stepped into a 70's movie, talk about retro. Old style cradle seats with hardly any recline. This flight was operated by Jalways for JAL, and apparently Jalways is a regional/lower cost
part of JAL, and is where JAL dumps all its aircraft before retirement. This aging 747-400 was in a 3-class layout, with first class in the nose section, followed by business between doors 1 and 2 and the rest of the aircraft
economy, including the upper deck. There is no First class sold for this route, so I think they JAL elites are seated in the first class section.

2-2 config in first, 2-3-2 config in business. This reminded me of my first long haul business flight in BA then Club World cradle seat in 1993, except the recline was better in the BA seats There was AVOD, which was
surprising, and the service was good in a Japanese way. I kind of enjoyed this aircraft, but for regular business travelers I'm sure they're not too happy with this stuff.

Had the western dinner option of Flounder and prawns, skipped the salad, cheese and dessert, settling on coffee and cognac. I had champagne as aperitif, it was Piper-Heidsieck. The cabin was only half full, yet the FAs went to the trouble of labelling seats based on meal choice, and I got a funny looking fish on my seat.

Slept for the rest of the flight, and touched down on time at Nino Aquino. Business passengers were quickly off as door 1L was used for us, while the back had to wait for 2L to be connected. Meaning there was no immigration queue and I was in a taxi the Renaissance Makati City in no time.

Pictures:
Business class cabin
Welcome drink (served after take-off)
Dinner service
Café avec