OKA - HND NH138
Boeing 767-300 JA8674
Seat 6K
Departure:20:50
Arrival: 23:00

When I was looking for these flights, there was just the sniff of a chance of getting a mid-day flight on the 747-Domestic. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be, and it looks like I’ve forever missed my chance now. Still, even an 18-year old 767 is likely to be a pleasant experience on ANA.

I stepped out of my taxi almost exactly two hours before check-in, and arrived to ANA’s near-deserted side of the airport. I tried checking in on the automated kiosks, but I didn’t have the credit card used for the booking about my person, and it wouldn’t recognise any of the PNRs I tried to throw at it. A very helpful lady came up to help me, and spirited me away to the priority check-in counter, my luggage scanned halfway there and prior to tagging. Clearly she didn’t know who I am!

The check-in agent took my passport and my print-out of my itinerary, and turned to her computer. there was the occasional keystroke, but what felt like minutes at a time of just reading what was on her monitor. It was like an awkward silence, and far more unsettling than the furious typing with a frown on you sometimes get when not everything is going smoothly. Eventually everything was in order, my bags were tagged priority (I think - there were extra orange tags with Star Alliance logos, but the writing was all in Japanese, and they didn’t look like the ordinary priority tags), and I was given what I presumed were my boarding passes. There was no opportunity to select seats on the short legs (I had pre-selected for HND-FRA), but I was pleased to see 6K for the trip to Haneda (although less thrilled with an aisle to London).

I still had plenty of time, so headed to one of the many landside restaurants. The one I plumped for offered local Okinawan cuisine and views of the apron. It was pretty tasty. Once finished, I used my handy little map to get to security point 2, and started my way through ANA’s labyrinthine boarding pass exchange program (I kid! It’s all explained here).





Boarding was courteous and efficient. Once on board it was only the shape of the overhead bins which really gave away the age of the bird - everything was immaculate, and the seats were of a modern design. Despite being a domestic aircraft I didn’t suffer for lack of legroom



The safety briefing was shown on the main cabin screens,and this was followed to my surprise and delight by the feed from the wheel cam.



Disappointingly, we lost the camera shortly after take-off, and the screen was used for a series of commercials. Food and beverage was fairly simple for this leg, with a choice of coffee, green tea or apple juice. I plumped for the latter.



Our entry to Tokyo Haneda was without incident. I disembarked and made our way through baggage collection, past a commendable number of toilets, following signs for the inter-terminal bus. After the baggage hall the signs became somewhat infrequent, but I managed to get to where I needed. The bus had a delightful pattern on the seats.



I got to the International Terminal to find that it had to all intents and purposes closed for the night, landside at least.



Undeterred, I went out to the viewing terrace to see if my ride had arrived, but it was a bit too early yet. I headed back downstairs to pass through security, where disappointingly I only managed to gain a single further piece of paper as a boarding pass. I headed to the bar for a beer and a disproportionately large serving for nuts, and as the 777 to LAX pushed back, I could see that my aircraft had arrived.

HND - FRA NH203
Boeing 787-800 JA805A
Seat 22K
Departure: 01:10
Arrival: 05:25

I moseyed on over to the gate, where I discovered just how bad Haneda’s International Terminal is for photography.



Boarding was called first for Business, ANA’s own elites, and Star Alliance golds, and seemed that a lot of people fell into one of these categories. When general boarding was called, just like in Munich I found myself at the wrong side of the gate. There were no self service gates to allow me to jump the queue this time, but boarding was very orderly and efficient. Once onboard I could see that those 34 inches of pitch were plenty generous, and even with the shell seat slid far forward I wasn’t struggling for legroom.



The windows are, as reported elsewhere, huge. It’s just a shame this flight was entirely under cover of darkness so I didn’t get a chance to play with them. Just to add insult to injury, for a large part of the flight the Flight Attendants over-rode the individual settings so they were all at maximum darkness. Before they did this I had a chance to notice just how tall the wingtips were on the ground, although I never really got to see the wingflex that the 787 is famous for. I was apprehensive ahead of this trip, having read reports of a high-pitched noise audible in the cabin, like you might get from electrical equipment. I’m pleased to report I couldn’t detect it (maybe I’m just getting too old...), but there was an unusually high frequency component to the engine noise during takeoff and climb out, but this disappeared at cruise

As you might expect, the IFE was very modern, and there was a good amount of content, although you wouldn’t know it if you tried to check online. I’m one of those people who try to plan their viewing ahead of a trip, and ANA weren’t doing me any favours. In their favour, there was a comprehensive listings magazine in the seatback pocket. Of course, we start with the moving map:


Phew, just missed that ship!

Bearing in mind the timing of this flight, ANA take the entirely sensible option of having a light supper, then have breakfast as the main meal. The light supper consists of three teeny tiny crustless sandwiches and a bottle of water which extols the benefits of the Toray carbon fibre used in the 787’s construction, plus your choice of drink from the cart. My choice (gin and orange) wasn’t available from the cart, so the FA went and brought it back to me later. You can’t see it because it’s all blurry, but the packaging showed the calorie content of the sandwiches. There wasn’t a lot.



I watched a film or two, then tried to sleep. The shell seat wasn’t the most comfortable ever, but I managed to sleep for a couple of hours, and doze for a couple more. Whilst dozing, I became aware of conversation in the cabin. It wasn’t quite as intrusive as conversations on the A380, but it was clear that the Dreamliner is quieter than most, to answer the question in the title. Noise-wise I prefer it to the A380.

Breakfast time rolled around and I opted for the Japanese option, with green tea to wash it down. The main protein source was mackerel, which felt brave. I was underwhelmed by the fruit salad, but this was mainly due to my expectations having been raised elsewhere, as everything else was very nice.



There was a bit of a deviation from the direct route over upper Germany to ensure we wouldn’t arrive during Frankfurt’s curfew, and we touched down smoothly a few minutes after five am. According to the in-flight map, though, we crashed right through the terminal before taxiing back.


I’m not sure I ever technically entered Germany, but I stepped off the plane feeling surprisingly not terrible, and noted that I was much less dehydrated than usual. In fact the last time I felt like that coming off of such a long haul was when I stepped off the A380 SIN-LHR.Boeing seem to be doing well with the cabin comfort.

I managed to change my seat for a window at the gate, then I was ready to go home.


FRA - LHR LH900
Airbus A321 D-AIDQ
Seat 28F
Departure: 07:20
Arrival: 08:05



Typical, you wait ages for an A321, then two come along at once. This was scheduled as an A320 at the time of purchase, and I’m pretty sure we all could have fit on one with room to spare. Still, it was nice to have an empty middle seat, and those new seats still give plenty of legroom.



What was less impressive was the amount of recline. I had to check that I’d actually pushed the seat back fully. I know it’s fine for the intended purpose, but coming off of a twelve-hour flight,I really could have done with a bit more of a slump. I didn’t find this until after I’d had my breakfast, which was this muesli-yoghurt combination, which you could choose to mix or eat separately. I’m pretty sure I washed it down with an orange juice, although that’s absent from the photo.



Then it was an unmemorable landing and entry into Heathrow and the UK, and homeward bound.

So, 787 good, ANA good, Asiana good, Lufthansa long haul good, Lufthansa short haul a bit meh. The 787’s not going to revolutionise flight, but I came off it feeling much fresher than I do any comparable journey on any other type bar the A380. It’s very comfortable at eight abreast and with 34” pitch. How it will feel at nine abreast and 31” pitch I’m not sure, but I suspect I’m going to prefer flying in it rather than an A330. Having now got it in my log, I’m not going to shift my flying patterns in order to get on it, again but I will look upon it favourably where it’s an option.