FLIGHT REVIEW: Japan Airlines Business Class – Part 1: Comparing JAL vs ANA

Today’s article is from TLFL regular contributor Jason. You can follow Jason on Instagram here @planejayds

Flight Details

– Japan Airlines flight JL50 Doha – Tokyo Haneda (currently suspended due to the ongoing situation in the Middle East)
– Aircraft: Boeing 787-9
– Registration JA873J
– 8 years old
– Seat: 10A/13A

JAL Vs ANA

Asia is home to some of the most highly awarded airlines in the world, including Japan’s two aviation powerhouses, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways.

While I don’t place too much weight on rankings such as those from Skytrax, having now flown both carriers multiple times, I can confidently say that each delivers what many would consider a true five-star experience. The question I aimed to answer, however, is whether one has the edge over the other.

To find out, I recently flew both airlines back-to-back under near-identical conditions. Both flights were operated by internationally configured Boeing 787-9 aircraft, with similar daytime schedules and block times of around nine and a half hours, creating as fair a comparison as possible.

Let’s start with the first of the two: a Japan Airlines flight from Doha to Tokyo Haneda.

JAL

I was somewhat surprised to learn that, by most key metrics, fleet size, passenger numbers, and network breadth, Japan Airlines is actually the smaller of Japan’s two major carriers. That said, this is far from a “David vs Goliath” comparison; the gap between JAL and All Nippon Airways is relatively modest, and both operate at a similar level globally.

As a member of Oneworld, JAL tends to have a strong presence in alliance hubs. This is reflected in destinations such as Helsinki and Doha, cities served by JAL but not currently by ANA, despite ANA’s larger overall scale.

On the European front, JAL operates from London Heathrow (twice-daily services to Tokyo Haneda using a mix of Boeing 787-9s and 777-300ERs), alongside daily flights from Paris, Frankfurt, and Helsinki. This represents a more streamlined operation compared to a decade ago, when JAL also served routes such as London–Osaka and Tokyo to Amsterdam, Madrid, and Milan.
However, that broader network came at a cost. At the time, JAL was sustaining significant financial losses, and a period of restructuring saw the airline withdraw from underperforming routes in order to restore long-term profitability.

Booking, Website & App

This trip was booked using Avios (booked via BA), originally as a Qatar Airways itinerary from Paris to Tokyo via Doha.
Around a month before departure, Qatar Airways advised that the Doha–Haneda sector had been cancelled, and I had been rebooked onto Japan Airlines for the long-haul leg.

In all honesty, I was very happy with the change. I’ve always enjoyed flying Japanese carriers, and this felt like a bit of an unexpected upgrade in terms of overall experience, particularly when it comes to service and attention to detail.
A useful tip if you’re planning to redeem Avios on Japan Airlines via British Airways: your choice of departure point in Europe can make a significant difference to both the Avios required and the taxes.

For example, a one-way business class flight from Helsinki to Tokyo Haneda costs 62,500 Avios plus around £145 in taxes, whereas the same redemption from London Heathrow jumps to 92,750 Avios and approximately £557.

JAL’s website and app are quite clunky and difficult to navigate, an example simply being looking up your booking on the JAL website. You need to enter not only your name and booking reference but also your date of departure and flight number. I was also unable to fully manage my booking online, for example, when attempting to select a seat, only a portion of the business class cabin displayed in the seat map. Perhaps this is part of the agreement with Qatar, where each airline gets X amount of seats to sell? I am not sure, but from a customer point of view, it is not the most streamlined process.

Doha Ground Experience

This was my first time passing through Doha since the opening of Qatar’s second business class lounge, The Garden, and I was keen to check it out.

It’s a very welcome addition for anyone familiar with the original Al Mourjan lounge, where crowd levels can swing dramatically depending on the peaks and troughs of Qatar’s transit banks.

The entrance from the concourse is quite discreet and easy to miss, but once inside, the space feels noticeably more open and relaxed. I particularly liked how the lounge overlooks the greenery below, which gives it a much calmer, more contemporary feel compared to Al Mourjan.

It was pleasantly quiet during my visit, and I enjoyed a relaxed breakfast before the flight. One slightly curious addition is the Louis Vuitton café within the lounge, where everything is chargeable – not something I quite understand in a business class setting, but each to their own. I left the lounge around 08:30 and made my way to gate A10.

Boarding And Pre-Departure

Departure was scheduled for 09:20, with boarding listed as 08:40 on the boarding pass. In reality, boarding commenced slightly behind schedule at 08:50.

The process itself was very orderly, with boarding conducted by group number. The cabin load was relatively light, around 70% full in business class, almost empty in premium economy, and approximately half full in economy. Upon arriving at the seat, everything was already set up: a bottle of water, slippers, a colourful amenity kit, headphones, bedding, and a “gentle steam” eye mask.

Pre-departure drinks were offered shortly after boarding, with a choice of champagne or orange juice served in plastic flutes. This is due to a Japanese regulatory requirement, with glassware introduced only after take-off.
The aircraft door closed at 09:06 (just 16 minutes after boarding began), with pushback at 09:14 and departure at 09:42.

Seat & Cabin

Japan Airlines was one of the first carriers to introduce the Boeing 787 into service (just behind its rival ANA, the launch customer), and today operates a large fleet of both the -8 and -9 variants across domestic and international routes.
Interestingly, it is economy passengers who arguably benefit most from JAL’s 787 configuration. The airline has retained the original “Dreamliner” 8-abreast layout in economy, whereas most other carriers (including ANA) have moved to a denser 9-abreast configuration.

In business class, JAL typically offers two different hard products on the 787-9 fleet. Around half the aircraft feature the excellent Apex Suite, which remains one of my personal favourite business class seats. The remainder are fitted with the “Sky Suite III”, based on the Safran Aries platform in a reverse herringbone layout.

The aircraft operating this flight featured the latter, with a total of 52 business class seats. The cabin is very premium-heavy, with business class occupying the entire forward section, as well as extending beyond the second set of doors, effectively split into two cabins of seven and six rows respectively. Behind this sits a small premium economy cabin of five rows, with economy confined to the rear of the aircraft.

Visually, the cabin is pleasant, with a modern and understated colour palette. In other reviews I have read online, this seat is pretty much universally criticised for the personal space it provides and comfort. Yes, the seat itself did feel slightly tight compared to other reverse herringbone products I’ve experienced, but I still found it to be comfortable.

Despite the absence of a suite door, privacy is still good. The seats are slightly offset, meaning you are not directly facing the passenger across the aisle.

In terms of storage, there is a small side cabinet for personal items, along with additional space under the armrest. The cabin is served by three lavatories, one at the front and two located by the second set of doors, all equipped with Japanese-style bidets and stocked with Miller Harris amenities.

The Flight

Shortly after take-off, I moved from my original seat (10A) to 13A in the final row of the cabin, taking advantage of the light load.
The service began promptly, with crew distributing cardigans for in-flight use, followed by a personal welcome from the in-charge crew member. A hot towel service followed shortly afterwards.

At 10:05, around 20 minutes after departure, a crew member took both drink and meal orders using a handheld device. While it is possible to pre-order Japanese meals on these flights, I had experienced some issues managing my booking (including seat selection) due to this being issued on a Qatar Airways ticket.

As always, I opted for the Japanese menu. Drinks were served first. I chose sake, which was accompanied by olives and mixed nuts, a small but premium touch. A tablecloth was then laid, and the first course arrived at 10:35.

As with ANA, the Japanese meal is delivered in three stages. The appetiser, a selection of beautifully presented seasonal dishes,  was outstanding.

I found myself taking my time with it, genuinely savouring each element.

The main course, a seabass dish served with rice, soup and pickles, was equally impressive. It’s often said that something as simple as rice can be difficult to perfect, but Japanese airlines consistently get it exactly right. I passed on dessert, and by the time the meal was cleared, we had just crossed into Indian airspace.

Coffee followed, which was perfectly drinkable, though somewhat underwhelming. As with ANA, there are no espresso-based options, and it was served with a slightly unusual American-style non-dairy creamer.

Between the two main services, the crew actively promoted the extensive à la carte menu, which included noodles, rice bowls, sandwiches, cheese plates and salads. A strong offering for a long-haul flight.

I made up the bed and, while the seat itself felt quite narrow, comfort was significantly improved by the excellent mattress and duvet.

A larger pillow would have been welcome, although with so many empty seats it was easy enough to source an extra.
An unexpected touch was the offering of sleepwear, not the usual pyjama set, but a fleece-style one-piece smock, which I hadn’t come across before on any airline.

I managed a couple of hours’ sleep before waking and spending some time working. Around 2.5 hours before arrival, the second meal service began. I again selected the Japanese option, which was excellent, and it was cleared as we passed over Shanghai.

One particularly impressive detail came towards the end of the flight. With a scheduled arrival into Tokyo Haneda at 01:00, public transport options are extremely limited at that hour. JAL addressed this by proactively offering all business class passengers a taxi voucher, valued at approximately £50.

In my case, I was staying at the Mercure near the airport, and the fare was only around £15. The system requires the passenger to write the fare into a box before handing the voucher to the driver. I attempted to leave it blank and simply sign it, but the driver politely insisted I enter the exact amount. Only in Japan.

The cabin manager came through to personally farewell passengers prior to arrival, and we touched down into Haneda exactly on schedule at 01:00.

IFE & WIFI

Wi-Fi was provided free of charge for business class passengers and remained stable throughout the flight, with no noticeable dropouts.

The inflight entertainment system, however, felt more dated. The interface was not particularly responsive, and while the 17-inch touchscreen is a good size, the content offering was fairly limited, largely focused on films, with very few TV series available. On the flipside, JAL does provide an updated schedule of IFE being featured on their various aircraft via JAL.com, so if you do not see anything that takes your fancy before your flight, get downloading!

Onboard Staff Service Delivery

On the whole, JAL and ANA are really quite similar, but this is probably the area where they are almost identical. The service is consistently polite, well intentioned and shows a huge attention to detail. An example of a couple of things that stood out on this flight – small details were handled effortlessly – for example, as I was unwrapping the blanket, a crew member appeared almost instantly to offer to take the plastic. Similarly, when I closed the overhead locker, another crew member passing by thanked me. A small touch, but very reflective of the overall service style. It is worth noting that this excellent service is not necessarily exclusively ‘Japanese’. JAL also have cabin crew bases at Heathrow, Manila and Bangkok, with crew from these bases attending a twelve week initial training course in Tokyo.

There is a certain quirkiness to the service as well. For example, handwritten cards by the crew placed around the cabin detailing cabin service. On this flight, even little paper pieces of origami were displayed around the snacks.

One thing that stood out to me on both airlines is that there were no male cabin crew, all female. It isn’t unique to Japanese carriers. I have never or very rarely seen a male cabin attendant on a Chinese or Korean airline, but it did pique my curiosity. Do Japanese airlines actively screen out male applicants, or is it simply a role that few Japanese males apply for? I did a little research and found that, in Japan, the two main players only recruit females for the role of ‘Cabin Attendant’. JAL does, on very rare occasions, recruit males; however, these are appointed to the role of ‘Assistant Purser’ on commencing employment. Males cannot apply for the role of Cabin Attendant with JAL and likewise, females cannot apply for the role of Assistant Purser.

It’s an interesting distinction, and one that reflects broader cultural and historical norms within the Japanese aviation industry. Another aspect I have noticed in the 20-odd years I have been flying JAL is that the Japanese cabin crew have become more confident in interacting with non-Japanese passengers. They have always been unfailingly polite, but as the years have gone on, I have noticed a greater degree of engagement, which I think is probably down to new generations having a better grasp of English.

Verdict

JAL offers a consistently excellent service when it comes to operational reliability and high levels of in-flight catering and service, and just thoughtful gestures that make a huge difference to the customer – I mean, what other airline would proactively help you out with the taxi fare if you land at an airport and public transport is closed? What is not consistent is the range of seating products it offers, although at least you can pretty much be guaranteed a flat bed with direct aisle access on all intercontinental flights. If IFE is an important element of the in-flight experience for you, you may also want to do a bit more research and make sure JAL meets your expectations in this area. My only plea, please get some espresso machines on those jets!

Next up will be a side-by-side review flying ANA, where I continue on from Tokyo to Sydney.