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Part III – Dream in the Making
Flying the Dreamliner is perhaps every aviation enthusiast’s dream and being the first to fly 787 is an opportunity too good to pass by. I have struggled a bit because the cost was rather high especially the Yen has been extraordinarily strong but at the end I manage to pull it through and use award tickets for most of the long haul flights, and I think I did a pretty good job in making the best out of it. Of course, it would be nice if I flew the Oct 26 charter to Hong Kong, but that was not possible. Plan B was to fly one of the four flights on November 1, and of course the Okayama flight was my first option. Here comes the rant, ANA really has made it difficult for non-Japanese to book these flights, and the worst was that it gave no indication on their exact plans. At the end the Okayama flights were completely blocked because they were sold as a package through ANA holidays and only for Japanese residents. ANA should have made it clear from day one, and I should have gone straight to the Hiroshima flight and maybe I could get a RT, instead of just one way flight from Haneda to Hiroshima. However this is life, and I am actually not surprised on this Japanese orientation, but for an airline, which wants to inspire travel and creates an important global image, this 787 inaugural is indeed doing quite the opposite and leaves a bitter taste. ANA definitely scores the worst out of this whole inaugural experience.
November 1, 2011
NH 683 Tokyo Haneda to Hiroshima International Lv1615 Arr1745 Boeing 787-8 JA801A “Rainbow”
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...8QbNHDNy5bqT2Q
The morning here was filled with excitement and the observation deck was crowded around 11:30am, the scheduled arrival time of the Okayama flight. ANA does a good job promoting the 787 and plane spotting is a serious sport here, and you can see all kinds of camera equipment and my tiny compact digital camera is a bit out of place. The best thing about staying at the Excel Haneda is being able to access the deck all day long. Prior to entering the deck, I double-checked the status board and the plane was running thirty minutes behind. I guess fate has been made this way, and I remembered checking the status of my own flight in the morning, and it said gate 64 or 65, so I just walked over there because I spotted the Boeing 747-400D. ANA is the only airline, which uses the Boeing 747-400D designed for frequent short haul flights of the Japanese markets, as JAL retires their 747D fleet.
Observation Deck:
Some pictures of ANA Boeing 747-400D – possibly Okinawa bound (and I better catch some domestic flights soon before they are gone soon)
Flying the Dreamliner is perhaps every aviation enthusiast’s dream and being the first to fly 787 is an opportunity too good to pass by. I have struggled a bit because the cost was rather high especially the Yen has been extraordinarily strong but at the end I manage to pull it through and use award tickets for most of the long haul flights, and I think I did a pretty good job in making the best out of it. Of course, it would be nice if I flew the Oct 26 charter to Hong Kong, but that was not possible. Plan B was to fly one of the four flights on November 1, and of course the Okayama flight was my first option. Here comes the rant, ANA really has made it difficult for non-Japanese to book these flights, and the worst was that it gave no indication on their exact plans. At the end the Okayama flights were completely blocked because they were sold as a package through ANA holidays and only for Japanese residents. ANA should have made it clear from day one, and I should have gone straight to the Hiroshima flight and maybe I could get a RT, instead of just one way flight from Haneda to Hiroshima. However this is life, and I am actually not surprised on this Japanese orientation, but for an airline, which wants to inspire travel and creates an important global image, this 787 inaugural is indeed doing quite the opposite and leaves a bitter taste. ANA definitely scores the worst out of this whole inaugural experience.
November 1, 2011
NH 683 Tokyo Haneda to Hiroshima International Lv1615 Arr1745 Boeing 787-8 JA801A “Rainbow”
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...8QbNHDNy5bqT2Q
The morning here was filled with excitement and the observation deck was crowded around 11:30am, the scheduled arrival time of the Okayama flight. ANA does a good job promoting the 787 and plane spotting is a serious sport here, and you can see all kinds of camera equipment and my tiny compact digital camera is a bit out of place. The best thing about staying at the Excel Haneda is being able to access the deck all day long. Prior to entering the deck, I double-checked the status board and the plane was running thirty minutes behind. I guess fate has been made this way, and I remembered checking the status of my own flight in the morning, and it said gate 64 or 65, so I just walked over there because I spotted the Boeing 747-400D. ANA is the only airline, which uses the Boeing 747-400D designed for frequent short haul flights of the Japanese markets, as JAL retires their 747D fleet.
Observation Deck:
Some pictures of ANA Boeing 747-400D – possibly Okinawa bound (and I better catch some domestic flights soon before they are gone soon)
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