Originally Posted by
OWF_NYC_SIN
I am pleased with JAL’s decision to go with more A350-900 for the international market
It also seems like JAL is increasing their capacity for Zipair, the mid-haul flying market seems great for low cost airlines. ANA has Air Japan, and I can imagine future projections for this market show promising signs of growth.
As long as JAL does not use the cursed Sky Suite III seat like other “regional” aircraft (787-9), it will improve JAL’s competitiveness for the mid-haul flights.
The dreadful SSIII will be flying for a while as these were just fitted to 12 frames delivered between 2017 and 2020 and mainly fly to either HNL, SIN, BKK or the occasional NA routes.
The 20 A359s for international use looks like a direct replacement to the 11 x 772ERs that were retired early due to the PW engine issue and the current 9 x international 767ERs.
JAL mentioned during their MTMP press conference yesterday that they plan to increase their international business 1.4x the current size by 2030 and retrofitting current aircraft to add more seat capacity is one of the things that will be implemented soon to achieve this goal.
Hopefully this doesn't mean that we will finally say goodbye to the only 2-4-2 787 operator but would rather see the Apex Sky Suites replaced with a more space efficient J class seats. Fingers crossed.