A new low-cost long-haul airline has been unveiled – with AirJapan joining the fray, by ANA.
Air Japan will seemingly the Boeing 787-8 for this project with the cabin configured with a single cabin layout. The airline is working with a brand concept of “Fly Thoughtful”. Let us see how that trickles down to the product.
The cabin will be configured with 324 economy-class seats made of premium Japanese faux leather.
Interestingly, they have chosen a seat pitch of 32 inches with a recline feature.
The set is one of the Safran models, with Acumen Design Associates leading the industrial design, as unveiled. It will feature Type-A and Type-C USB ports to charge devices, with tablet holders for your viewing pleasure. This is separate from the tray table, allowing you to enjoy content without a table interfering with your lap.
Catering
A buy-on-board concept will be offered, focusing on Japanese flavours. The airline will offer menus for a set fee that may be reserved online in advance, and in addition, provide meals and snacks that can be purchased onboard the flight.
More details will emerge at the start of ticket sales.
Uniforms
The uniforms have a borderless design, promoting a diverse and inclusive workforce by incorporating gender-neutral options and enabling variations in coordination.
It includes traditional Japanese cultural elements such as “knots” and “layers,” immersing passengers in Japanese culture from the first moment of boarding. The knot is represented by the brand’s colour belt. In layering, a beautiful natural overlapping pattern was designed into details such as the hem of the skirt and sleeves.
Variations in the uniforms allow cabin attendants the flexibility to dress in their own unique way. There will be two types of bottoms- skirts and pants, and a choice of sneakers and leather shoes.
And there’s boarding music.
In Quotes
Hideki Mineguchi, President of AirJapan. said
“At AirJapan, we are dedicated to the passion of our passenger’s pursuits, which inspires us to create inflight products and services to foster the innovative spirit of those flying with us,”
“We hope the launch of these new amenities create a unique and outstanding travel experience for our passengers.”
Challenges ahead
ANA are late out of the traps with this – as ZipAir Tokyo is also a low-cost airline, that has its backing with a major Japanese airline – JAL in this case.
With a launch date of February 2024, with Asia in its targets, there could well be some competition on routes to lower costs.
Interestingly, AirJapan has chosen the volume of passengers versus a two-class product that ZipAir chose. Again, it would be interesting to see the modelling that leads ANA down that direction – considering most medium-long haul low costs carriers to have some sort of premium cabin.
Nonetheless, more competition and choice are always welcome for the passenger.
All images – AirJapan.
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