Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: WAS/TYO
Programs: UA 1K, AA EXP (3MM), DL PM, BONVOY TITANIUM, HYATT GLOBALIST, HILTON DIAMOND, IHG DIAMOND AMB, et al
Posts: 6,250
All Nippon 77
Tokyo Haneda to Sapporo New Chitose
Boeing 787-8
October 1, 2021
7:00P-8:35P (sked)
6:58P-8:39P (actual)
Flight Time: 1hr06min
Premium Class
Seat 6K
I arrived at Terminal 2 of Tokyo’s Haneda Airport about 90 minutes before departure. ANA is currently using a handful of internationally-configured 787s for their domestic services given the significant drop in international demand. Frequently, though, these aircraft are swapped out at the last minute. Tonight however the seatmap was definitely showing an internationally-configured 787-8, which meant a much better chance at upgrading given the large 42 seat business class cabin being used as domestic Premium Class (compared with the typical 12 seat Premium Class cabin on a domestic-configured 787-8). Sure enough, I got lucky and there were a handful of Premium Cabin seats available for upgrade. Using the premium check-in area, the agent quickly processed the upgrade and issued the new boarding pass for Seat 6K. I confirmed there would be a meal service onboard (twice recently I was flying down to Osaka Itami and there weren’t enough meals loaded to accommodate all the last minute upgraded passengers).
I headed upstairs to ANA’s lounge complex, being entitled to access the regular ANA Lounge on the basis of both my United 1K (Star Alliance Gold) status and my freshly printed Premium Class boarding pass. Today was also special since it was the first day the State of Emergency had been lifted in Tokyo since early-July – meaning it was again possible to enjoy an adult beverage in the lounge. The ANA Lounge certainly featured plenty of beverage choices – including 3 different Japanese beers, four sakes, shochu, some Japanese Whisky (Nikka Super) and Bourbon (Marker’s Mark) available for self-pour. The snack selection was limited to just package rice crackers, but I made myself an impromptu sake tasting to celebrate the State of Emergency being over.
ANA Lounge beverage options:
It was a dark and stormy night, as the outer bands of Typhoon Mindulle had finally reached Tokyo. Winds were gusting to about 55kts with torrential rain outside, but aside from a handful of weather cancellations things were actually running pretty smoothly. Imagine that at any major U.S. airport. Nope, I cannot either. I made my way down to Gate 58 about 25 minutes before departure, and boarding began exactly at 6:40pm – 20 minutes before scheduled departure. Even with my 15 year history of frequently traveling in Japan, I’m still amazed by the efficiency of airplane boarding in Japan. Even JAL can manage to board a completely full 500 seat domestic-configured 777-300 in under 20 minutes. Tonight was no exception, with boarding completed within 15 minutes. A couple of seats even remained empty in the rear Premium Class cabin – including my neighboring seat. It was also a treat to have a lie-flat seat, albeit quite an outdated one, for the short one hour flight north to Sapporo. Several of the flight attendants offering alcohol wipes and packaged oshibori (hand towels) before completing their pre-departure safety checks. As is the norm for domestic flights within Japan, there is no pre-departure beverage service. Soon enough, everyone had boarded in just over 15 minutes and the cabin doors were closed.
As always, I greatly enjoyed ANA’s kabuki-themed safety video. Little did I know at the time this would be the last time I would get to see it on an ANA flight since they recently replaced it with a newer and decidedly less entertaining video.
Pushback commenced 2 minutes before scheduled departure time, and we began a long taxi out to RWY 34R. Given the very strong wind gusts, arrival traffic was being spaced out creating a backlog of aircraft awaiting departure. About every third or fourth aircraft was going missed (presumable due to the wind gusts/shear), further complicating arrival and departure sequencing. All in all, it was a beautiful sight to see the remarkable efficiency of Japanese ATC and professionalism of Japanese pilots in challenging weather conditions. After 20 minutes of waiting with our lightly loaded 787 being shaken in the strong wind gusts, we were finally at the hold short and #1 for departure. An arriving JAL 777 landing in front of us on RWY 34R completed a rejected landing (a relatively rare occurrence in commercial aviation) – giving further evidence that it was about to be a sporty departure – and then we were cleared for takeoff. As expected, there was moderate turbulence for the first couple of thousand feet of the climbout, but then the ride smoothed out as we turned east and then north over Tokyo Bay.
Service began about 15 minutes after takeoff, with the flight attendants closing the curtains between the economy and Premium Class cabins and then starting service from the front cabin rearwards. Unfortunately, there were only 4 flight attendants (2 per aisle) assigned to work the entire Premium cabin so dinner service was quite slow taking another 15 minutes to reach the aft cabin. We were already close to Aomori by the time my drink order was taken. I opted for a split of the sparking wine (Brut Dargent Blanc des Blancs) but there was a full drink menu (photo taken from an earlier Premium Class flight last month):
To my delight, glassware has finally returned to ANA domestically! Immediately after receiving my wine, dinner was served. I was going to have eat it quickly, though, as we had just commenced our descent. Dinner consisted of an assortment of chilled “Tastes of Japan” appetizers nicely presented, a warm simmered chicken dish, rice bowl with ham pieces, and miso soup. All-in-all a very substantial meal for a flight lasting just over an hour.
Service was friendly, but you could sense the flight attendants were rushed handling such a large cabin. ANA’s domestic flights are typically just two rows of Premium Class served by two FAs instead of seven rows served by four FAs. To their credit, however, they performed well and even managed to complete a second round of drinks before the cabin was secured for landing. I ordered the Hara Shuzou sake from Niigata – one that I’ve enjoyed on several ANA domestic flights recently – and the FAs were kind enough to provide it in a plastic cup so I could enjoy it until arrival.
We arrived into Chitose just a few minutes late, despite our lengthy taxi in Haneda, and I was still able to make it on the Airport Express train I was planning on for the short ride into Sapporo. All told, a very comfortable but slightly rushed flight. Nonetheless, it's always a treat to fly ANA in a premium cabin and this flight was no exception.
Last edited by FlyerBeek; Oct 31, 2021 at 8:07 am