Business Class on All Nippon Airways

So many airlines these days are making changes to their upper class cabins that it’s not surprising to see All Nippon Airways following suit. They upgraded their First Class cabins in 2010, but in truth the old First Class seats – which are still on many of the planes – are extremely nice. It’s when you look at the old Business Class on All Nippon Airways that you feel a sense of relief that they’re upgrading that, as well.

The old Business Class on All Nippon Airways looks much like domestic First Class does in many countries – seats that don’t recline fully, and more or less the same cabin feel as Economy but with better amenities. The new Business Class on All Nippon Airways, however, is a positive step forward. The new cabins feature seats in plastic shells for increased privacy and that recline fully – always a welcome feature on any long-haul flight.

But since not all of the All Nippon Airways flights have the new seats in Business Class yet, you’ll find information about the old seats at the bottom of this post.

Seat & Bed

• Seats recline to a fully-flat position (horizontal with the floor)
• Seats are semi-circled by plastic shells for increased privacy
• Seats are staggered and every seat has aisle access

Food & Beverages

• Menus include both Japanese food and Western food options
• Menus change regularly to highlight seasonal ingredients
• Specialty drinks featured throughout the year
• Selection of fine wines (including Japanese wines) available on each flight
• Meal-ordering can be done using the touch-panel LDC monitor

Entertainment

• Each seat has a personal 17″ touch-panel LCD wide-screen monitor
• On-demand entertainment includes movies, TV shows, video games, audio books, and other audio programming
• Each seat has a PC power port and iPod connector near the LCD monitor

Other Amenities

• Complimentary amenity kits include tooth brush set, mouth wash, eye mask, ear plugs, hand cream, and lip balm
• Depending on the route, passengers on overnight flights may receive pajamas and slippers

As mentioned, the old Business Class on All Nippon Airways is distinctly less fancy than the upgraded service. To begin with, the seats don’t recline to a fully flat position – and on some aircraft, they don’t even recline to a lie-flat position. On the majority of flights, however, you can expect at least lie-flat seats and lots of legroom, and some even have a mini-shell casing for increased privacy when reclined.

The other major difference from the old to the new Business Class cabins is in the entertainment section. While the new configuration has one of the largest video screens in its class, if you’re on an aircraft that hasn’t upgraded yet you’ll be stuck with a hand-held portable media player. Every passenger gets one, and it does come pre-loaded with lots of on-demand entertainment options, but it’s definitely not as nice as the new system.