By Shawn Gallagher
Good evening from Tokyo Haneda Airport’s terminal 3! This is a review of economy class on a Japan Airlines Airbus A350-1000, which debuted last year. I flew this back to New York on my short 11 day trip to Japan. Welcome aboard!
I reviewed their Premium Economy product on the A350 going the other way, and I loved it. Be sure to check out the review from that flight as well.
This was Japan Airlines flight JL4, departing Tokyo Haneda at 19:45 and arriving at New York JFK at 19:40, on the same day.
At Haneda Airport
My journey begins at Terminal 3, which is where most international flights operate in and out of at Haneda.
I had no bags to drop off today, but the check-in desks didn’t seem to be busy.
I went up the escalators to the 4th floor, where you can find many stores and restaurants. I walked past these decorations as I got up there, which was pretty nice. I frequently visit this terminal, but don’t recall seeing something like this in previous years.
I made my way up to the 5th floor next and stopped by the observation deck. This place is a must-visit if you’re flying out of Haneda.
I enjoyed the sweeping views of the ramp and the runway just behind it.
Here’s N508DN, a Delta Air Lines Airbus A350-900. This plane turned around and headed to Atlanta several hours later.
There’s my plane in the distance, JA02WJ.
Security was fairly busy. I’d say it took about 15 minutes in total.
My flight boarded from gate 112.
Terminal 3 at Haneda has a solid amount of stores and restaurants. I recommend the convenience store (Seven-Eleven) near gate 108 for inflight essentials.
Here’s my aircraft. JA02WJ, a 1 year old Airbus A350-1000 delivered to Japan Airlines in November 2023. This was the second delivery of the aircraft type for the airline.
Time to board!
Boarding and Departure
You can’t escape the Shohei Ohtani ads until the moment you leave the country.
Some soothing purple mood lighting greeted us upon boarding.
Economy class is in a 3-3-3 configuration, which is standard for the Airbus A350.
I had 48A, a window seat. A pillow (better than the one I had in Premium Economy!), a blanket, and a pair of headphones were waiting for me at the seat.
I noticed the impressive size of this IFE screen as I sat down. This is billed as 13 inches, which is one of the largest in the world for economy class.
Just under the screen was the headphone jack and two USB ports. One for USB-C, and the other for USB-A. I really appreciated the USB-C option, as it meant that I didn’t have to use the power outlet to charge my phone.
Something underrated in economy class seats: mesh pockets. Especially on long haul international flights, these pockets are vital as I have many small items like my passports, chargers, and water. I prefer to have them in my seat instead of the overhead bin (I never place my passports up overhead).
Not all economy class seats have these pockets, but I argue this is a fairly key component for a seat.
Legroom is a comfortable 33 inches, which is the same as an extra legroom seat on US airlines (Main Cabin Extra on American, Comfort Plus on Delta, Economy Plus on United).
I found the seat to be fairly comfortable, and the moveable headrest was alright. Note the perfect window placement in seat 48A.
We pushed back and left the gate pretty much on time.
I enjoyed the tail camera as we taxiied and took off. Since Delta doesn’t have cameras equipped on their A350s, flying JAL’s A350s has been a nice change.
First Meal Service
Meal service began with this “JAL Business Class” wet tissue as usual.
If you’re new to this blog, this wet tissue labeled as business class is used for every cabin except for First Class on Japan Airlines. It always gives me a laugh since I fly them frequently.
The moving flight map Arc by Panasonic Avionics is gorgeous.
I was able to connect my AirPods Pro to my IFE screen. It was easy to connect and the sound was consistent. I had some doubts since I was unable to connect on my Premium Economy flight, but there were no issues this time around.
The entertainment selection on Japan Airlines is unfortunately not good, and it has always been this way. They have a limited selection of new movies and TV shows, and they tend to recycle several movies as well. I watched the above movie Free Guy on a flight 3 years ago, and it’s still here!
It might be fine if you only fly the airline every once in a while, but you might want some of your own entertainment downloaded if you fly them often.
A cup holder came down from the tray in the folded-up position.
The foldable tray table was the standard one you’d see on many other aircraft.
I got my favorite peach and grape mix juice for the beverage service. They also provided rice crackers, which I usually decline, but I got it this time anyway.
We had a choice of fish or pasta, and I went with the pasta. The pasta was mixed with “creamy lemon sauce” and chicken, which was pretty good.
These three boxes (from left to right) included deep-fried tofu in “chicken dashi,” broccoli covered with sauce topped with almonds, and shrimp and a bunch of other vegetables inside some other type of sauce.
This part of the meal was honestly forgettable. I didn’t have the appetite for this confusing mixture of all sorts of foods and sauces.
Metal cutlery in economy class though? It’s always nice to have this when flying JAL.
Here’s a look at the menu.
Can’t forget the ice cream to finish off the meal.
Midflight
Note the large 13 inch IFE screens!
The Japan Airlines Airbus A350-1000 has two bathrooms between Premium Economy and Economy, and three bathrooms at the back of the plane. They’re equipped with the usual washlets you’d see on Japanese airlines, and the FAs handled the trash throughout the flight.
I slept pretty well during this flight. I’d say I got about 4.5 hours of on-and-off sleep total.
The sun began to rise around halfway through the flight.
The flight attendants displayed small snacks in the galley in a very nice way, with a candle and decorative lights.
This flight did not have a midflight snack. I had a few snacks I had bought from the convenience store, so I managed my hunger with those. From my experience, the flight from Japan to the US tends to not have the midflight snack. Flights going the other way usually do (from the US East Coast, I can’t speak for flights departing from the West Coast).
I found this nice handwritten note left by one of the flight attendants in one of the restrooms.
Although it was dark inside the plane, it was bright as day outside.
Second Meal Service
The lights turned back on with about 3 and a half hours remaining. I honestly thought this was pretty early.
JAL’s red winglet on the A350s look really nice.
I sometimes feel like Japan Airlines tries to do too much when it comes to their economy class meals. A 13 hour flight is not the time when I want to have a mixture of foods that I normally don’t eat.
The timing of this meal was also weird. We still had over 3 hours to go, and it was still 16:30 in New York. Not even dinner time yet.
Still icy outside!
Spectacular Approach Into JFK
I slept for much of the remainder of the flight, and I got ready for landing with about an hour to go.
The sun was beginning to set as we approached New York City.
I was able to cap off this flight with some great shots of this sunset. Best view of the flight for sure!
Concluding Thoughts
This was a cool graphic we got on the moving flight map as we landed.
We arrived in JFK about 15 minutes early. This flight felt pretty long to be honest, but I’m happy that I was able to sleep pretty well. I was fairly tired after arriving back in New York, but not bad at all compared to some previous long-haul trips. Jet lag wasn’t too bad either.
Japan Airlines has always had great economy class seats, and it continues to be great on this new Airbus A350-1000. Legroom is still great, and the large, 13 inch IFE screen is a nice new addition. This is a route I fly often and I never hesitate to book JAL every time. Here’s to many more years on this aircraft!
All photos taken by the author.