HND-OKJ NH 787 in F
Nov 6, 2011, 6:57 am
#1
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HND-OKJ NH 787 in F
This will be a short report, but I thought that FT finally deserved a trip report on the 787 ;-)
So I finally flew on the Dreamliner -- albeit not on the first commercial flight, but with the ridiculous prices that the HKG flight commanded, I'm not terribly disappointed. I couldn't fly to and back on the 787 due to work constraints and seats being sold out almost immediately for this weekend due to the long holiday. I was lucky enough to get a seat in F (which has NH's regional C seats for "a limited time").
Hiroshima Airport is tiny, with only 4 domestic boarding gates split between JL and NH. NH has their own lounge, but it is a tiny affair and rather pathetic as lounges go in Japan. All of the evening flights on NH were full, so the airport had quite a few passengers milling about. The observation deck was quite popular, though I noticed quite a few people were taking photos of the 763 pulling back thinking it was a 787. At 17:50 the 787 arrived from HND and pulled into the gate. It had been running a few minutes late all day, likely due to the wet weather stretching across Japan.
Soon boarding began and I was first onto the aircraft. Immediately I was struck by the colors of the bulkhead, the seats, the lighting -- everything. It was the sensation of being on not just a brand new aircraft, but a brand new aircraft type. The other passengers seemed to feel the same, as everyone had pulled out their cameras to snap photos of the seats (upright and reclined), the lights, the LED window shades, etc. Even the air nozzles (yes, the 787 has them) seemed futuristic. There are only two rows of six seats each in F on the 787 -- I believe this is strictly temporary while the 787 is servicing domestic routes.
Takeoff was noticeably quieter than the 767 or 777, as other FTers have mentioned. Once we reached cruising altitude, the FAs snapped into action to start the dinner service. As is usual for Premium Class, dinner consisted of a high-quality bento with miso soup and drinks (champagne, wine, sake, shochu, beer, tea, soft drinks, etc.). To be honest, the only thing different about F class on the 787 was the hardware -- flying domestically in Japan on internationally-configured aircraft is very unusual. (NRT-ITM is flown with a 773 from one of the US routes, but that's about it.)
I could tell the FAs were still getting used to the 787. Announcements were a bit stilted and as we were taxiing to our gate at HND after landing, the lights kept fading on and off in different color patterns as they tried to set them to the "standard" taxiing lighting. I noticed that all of the Japanese announcements by the chief purser and pilot were full of praise for the 787 -- NH is definitely marketing the heck out of this aircraft, and will continue to do so as it deploys more of them (as do its rivals). Boarding and disembarking was done using two jet bridges, which I find much nicer than the single jet bridge used with the 767 -- fewer people streaming through the front cabin. This will be more of a benefit on international flights with the larger C cabin.
One slight disappointment was that no boarding certificates were handed out. A friend of mine who flew HND-OKJ the previous day received one, so I had my hopes up. However since this flight was not the inaugural, I can certainly understand why they wouldn't be handed out. Incidentally, for 500 yen you can purchase a wooden badge of the 787 as a part of NH's new carbon offset scheme. I declined this time, but it might make an interesting souvenir for any of you who will fly NH in the near future.
That's about it. The flight was too short to really perceive the benefits of the 787 -- I wish I had more time to really enjoy the improved atmosphere (literally and figuratively) of the aircraft.
I've uploaded some photos here; I apologize for the poor quality, but it was an evening flight, the lighting was low, and I was using a small digital camera.
http://s1114.photobucket.com/profile...cpZZ1QQtppZZ24
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!
So I finally flew on the Dreamliner -- albeit not on the first commercial flight, but with the ridiculous prices that the HKG flight commanded, I'm not terribly disappointed. I couldn't fly to and back on the 787 due to work constraints and seats being sold out almost immediately for this weekend due to the long holiday. I was lucky enough to get a seat in F (which has NH's regional C seats for "a limited time").
Hiroshima Airport is tiny, with only 4 domestic boarding gates split between JL and NH. NH has their own lounge, but it is a tiny affair and rather pathetic as lounges go in Japan. All of the evening flights on NH were full, so the airport had quite a few passengers milling about. The observation deck was quite popular, though I noticed quite a few people were taking photos of the 763 pulling back thinking it was a 787. At 17:50 the 787 arrived from HND and pulled into the gate. It had been running a few minutes late all day, likely due to the wet weather stretching across Japan.
Soon boarding began and I was first onto the aircraft. Immediately I was struck by the colors of the bulkhead, the seats, the lighting -- everything. It was the sensation of being on not just a brand new aircraft, but a brand new aircraft type. The other passengers seemed to feel the same, as everyone had pulled out their cameras to snap photos of the seats (upright and reclined), the lights, the LED window shades, etc. Even the air nozzles (yes, the 787 has them) seemed futuristic. There are only two rows of six seats each in F on the 787 -- I believe this is strictly temporary while the 787 is servicing domestic routes.
Takeoff was noticeably quieter than the 767 or 777, as other FTers have mentioned. Once we reached cruising altitude, the FAs snapped into action to start the dinner service. As is usual for Premium Class, dinner consisted of a high-quality bento with miso soup and drinks (champagne, wine, sake, shochu, beer, tea, soft drinks, etc.). To be honest, the only thing different about F class on the 787 was the hardware -- flying domestically in Japan on internationally-configured aircraft is very unusual. (NRT-ITM is flown with a 773 from one of the US routes, but that's about it.)
I could tell the FAs were still getting used to the 787. Announcements were a bit stilted and as we were taxiing to our gate at HND after landing, the lights kept fading on and off in different color patterns as they tried to set them to the "standard" taxiing lighting. I noticed that all of the Japanese announcements by the chief purser and pilot were full of praise for the 787 -- NH is definitely marketing the heck out of this aircraft, and will continue to do so as it deploys more of them (as do its rivals). Boarding and disembarking was done using two jet bridges, which I find much nicer than the single jet bridge used with the 767 -- fewer people streaming through the front cabin. This will be more of a benefit on international flights with the larger C cabin.
One slight disappointment was that no boarding certificates were handed out. A friend of mine who flew HND-OKJ the previous day received one, so I had my hopes up. However since this flight was not the inaugural, I can certainly understand why they wouldn't be handed out. Incidentally, for 500 yen you can purchase a wooden badge of the 787 as a part of NH's new carbon offset scheme. I declined this time, but it might make an interesting souvenir for any of you who will fly NH in the near future.
That's about it. The flight was too short to really perceive the benefits of the 787 -- I wish I had more time to really enjoy the improved atmosphere (literally and figuratively) of the aircraft.
I've uploaded some photos here; I apologize for the poor quality, but it was an evening flight, the lighting was low, and I was using a small digital camera.
http://s1114.photobucket.com/profile...cpZZ1QQtppZZ24
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!
Last edited by armagebedar; Nov 6, 2011 at 3:30 pm Reason: fixed link
Nov 6, 2011, 10:10 am
#3
Join Date: Jan 2010
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The link should be this http://s1114.photobucket.com/profile...cpZZ1QQtppZZ24
