Japan Trip Report
Dear all,
I have not really written trip reports for a while and decided to write about my recent adventures on the Japanese domestic skies, a topic that is not commonly discussed here. Personally, it is an interesting experience and I made an effort to try three different domestic airlines, and from previous experience, I padded my schedule well and almost all airports regardless of size have observation decks and various retail and restaurant outlets, so it makes the travel experience even better. However, there are also certain difficulties in doing trip reports on Japanese domestic flights because of different policies. Photography is not permitted during boarding and deplaning, which makes taking cabin pictures very difficult unless the flight goes out empty, which is not a common occurrence here. Language also poses big issues and there is a lack of flight details as the pilots only did Japanese announcements, but on the other hand, the Japanese are used to photography taking once taken off and nobody blinks when I take various pictures mid-flight. In general, it is a very interesting experience. I am always impressed on how the Japanese airlines handle the check-in experience! It is truly seamless and well planned. First, you went through checked baggage x-ray and the staffs despite limited English are polite at all times. Nothing like the TSA! Then the agent checked you in by scanning your barcode on your printout or mobile phone or PDA or boarding pass issued from one of the many self-serve kiosks. Bag tags then came out and you were on your way, and if your ticket needs further assistance, a supervisor or second staff stepped in and asked you to go to another counter, so the staff can help other passengers with no ticketing issues. People are polite and the process is just seamless. In-flight service is limited to a few types of beverages, but F/As are generally kind and polite. It is interesting that English announcements are not made on most of my flights, except on Skynet Asia Airways, which is a small airline and the F/As make the important announcements in English, while JAL, an international airline, does not even bother. I hope you will enjoy this little report! Instead of sending out multiple photo link, I will just select all the pictures and place them under one link! Please be patient going through the big album!
Photo link:
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...8QbNHDNy5bqRPY
April 1, 2010
7G 87 HND-KKY Lv1840 Arr2030 Airbus A320-200 JA03MC
So what is 7G? Star Flyer Airlines is a Japanese boutique airline based in a new airport called Kitakyushu (Northern part of Kyushu), and currently has four Airbus A320s and two routes: Haneda to Kitakyushu and Osaka Kansai to Haneda, and both flights are code-shared with ANA, and yes, you will get priority boarding with your Star Alliance Gold card. It is a very stylish airline and is on top of my “to fly” list. The Airbus is equipped with only 144 seats, all in black leather and with Personal TV and universal outlets. However, it has always been difficult to book because it does not have a English website, and thank goodness to the ANA code-share and I book it through ANA domestic website, which is easy to use except the inability to input any mileage number for bmi. Regardless, the day started off rough, as the weather in Haneda was clear and sunny, but extremely windy. I took a step out to the observation deck and immediately headed back. It was rough out there at the Bay. Delays are expected on most flights. Check-in counters for the Haneda to Kitakyushu are located on the far end of Terminal One and are well equipped with self-check-in kiosks, as well as baggage drop and service desks. The counters are well staffed and I got a boarding pass from the kiosk and then check-in my single piece of bag. Efficiency is just remarkable here and no one is screaming and everyone are so well mannered. As all domestic flights go, your checked bags have to be X-rayed first before being tagged. I had a bit of time and found a nice soba restaurant in the wonderful Terminal One shopping mall complex. The flight was running ten minutes late, so no hurry here.
Security line was not crowded and everyone had to scan the bar code before going through the checks. You get a little receipt with the latest gate information and here in Japan, you can bring bottled water or drinks, as they have a machine to detect whether they are really drinks or something else. The staffers are all friendly and professional and TSA can really take a lesson here. It is so pleasant and good to have a drama-free day. The inbound flight was a bit late, but boarding began at 6:34pm, and the F/As were greeting each passengers and passing out headsets (of course nothing fancy here). The cabin looked really smart and was spotless. The seats came with cup holder, magazine pockets well placed, coat hooks, personal TV and power outlets. This flight was unsurprisingly filled with businessmen returning home after day of business in Tokyo. The flight was about 2/3 full as most middle seats remained empty. Star Flyer has this smart design regarding middle seats. You can pull down a cocktail table and allow more rooms for everyone and Star Flyer definitely made an effort to block middle seats. Legrest is also installed and comfort is definitely emphasized.
Whole boarding took seven minutes and door was closed at 6:41pm. Watching the boarding process in Japan is just a delight and everyone are considerate and travel light. Just found their seats, moved out of the aisle and sat down! We pushed back at 6:44pm and began our rather slow taxing to R/W16L. The takeoff was one of the roughest I had experienced ever, and as we gained speed, you can feel the winds blowing hard and the plane was struggling to keep a straight line. As we lifted off at 6:56pm, the aft section can definitely experience severe swinging. You can hear some surprising reactionary voices.
Star Flyer has a personal entertainment unit for each seats, it plays a number of short features on various channels. There is a movie and they smartly divided into two, so people can watch the last half of the movie on a later flight. There is only one English language channel, which is BBC News, which I watch mostly and of course the flight map. The routing took us over Yokohama, Mount Fjui, Nagoya, Komatsu, Otsu, Aka, Kurashiki, Fukayama, Kure, Iwakuni and Shuan, and we cruised at 30,000fee before staying at 28,000feet due to weather. Flying time is an hour and twenty minutes. In the seat pockets, there is a shopping magazine, a small in house magazine and a good mini QG magazine.
Seat belt sign turned off at 7:13pm and beverages were served, and the choices are coffee, tea, Orange Iced tea, apple juice and Iced Green tea. Due to the on and off turbulence, the F/A provided a cup cover and straws when they serve drinks. These little things make the travel experience even more special. Dsark chocolate squares are passed out with hot drinks but you can request them. I asked for them and the F/As filled a cup with those squares. The catering service is okay and given the short duration of flights, they are more than sufficient. The F/As were all professional and polite and my request for the chocolate thins was met with a smile and a cup filled of these delicious sweets. The F/As were constantly walking up and down the aisles and provided a highend service.
Descent began at 7:54pm and it was another windy night at Kitakyushu. With no traffic, we touched down on R/W18 of this man-made island at 8:16pm, fourteen minutes ahead of schedule. We parked at gate 2 two minutes late with almost no taxiing. Kitakyushu airport is really small with only three jet bridges. There was one other plane at the tarmac – a Japan Express’ Boeing 737-800 winglet JA306J heading back to Haneda, and our aircraft will return to Haneda one more time. Bags came out quickly and to my surprise, each check-in bag was wrapped in plastic bag – not environmentally friendly but very customer friendly. There were rain in both ends and I am just so amazed that this little airline will go through all these efforts to ensure a safe and pleasant journey. Honestly I can’t see any airline in the world that can accomplish this kind of service – a true boutique airline at its best.
Dear all,
I have not really written trip reports for a while and decided to write about my recent adventures on the Japanese domestic skies, a topic that is not commonly discussed here. Personally, it is an interesting experience and I made an effort to try three different domestic airlines, and from previous experience, I padded my schedule well and almost all airports regardless of size have observation decks and various retail and restaurant outlets, so it makes the travel experience even better. However, there are also certain difficulties in doing trip reports on Japanese domestic flights because of different policies. Photography is not permitted during boarding and deplaning, which makes taking cabin pictures very difficult unless the flight goes out empty, which is not a common occurrence here. Language also poses big issues and there is a lack of flight details as the pilots only did Japanese announcements, but on the other hand, the Japanese are used to photography taking once taken off and nobody blinks when I take various pictures mid-flight. In general, it is a very interesting experience. I am always impressed on how the Japanese airlines handle the check-in experience! It is truly seamless and well planned. First, you went through checked baggage x-ray and the staffs despite limited English are polite at all times. Nothing like the TSA! Then the agent checked you in by scanning your barcode on your printout or mobile phone or PDA or boarding pass issued from one of the many self-serve kiosks. Bag tags then came out and you were on your way, and if your ticket needs further assistance, a supervisor or second staff stepped in and asked you to go to another counter, so the staff can help other passengers with no ticketing issues. People are polite and the process is just seamless. In-flight service is limited to a few types of beverages, but F/As are generally kind and polite. It is interesting that English announcements are not made on most of my flights, except on Skynet Asia Airways, which is a small airline and the F/As make the important announcements in English, while JAL, an international airline, does not even bother. I hope you will enjoy this little report! Instead of sending out multiple photo link, I will just select all the pictures and place them under one link! Please be patient going through the big album!
Photo link:
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...8QbNHDNy5bqRPY
April 1, 2010
7G 87 HND-KKY Lv1840 Arr2030 Airbus A320-200 JA03MC
So what is 7G? Star Flyer Airlines is a Japanese boutique airline based in a new airport called Kitakyushu (Northern part of Kyushu), and currently has four Airbus A320s and two routes: Haneda to Kitakyushu and Osaka Kansai to Haneda, and both flights are code-shared with ANA, and yes, you will get priority boarding with your Star Alliance Gold card. It is a very stylish airline and is on top of my “to fly” list. The Airbus is equipped with only 144 seats, all in black leather and with Personal TV and universal outlets. However, it has always been difficult to book because it does not have a English website, and thank goodness to the ANA code-share and I book it through ANA domestic website, which is easy to use except the inability to input any mileage number for bmi. Regardless, the day started off rough, as the weather in Haneda was clear and sunny, but extremely windy. I took a step out to the observation deck and immediately headed back. It was rough out there at the Bay. Delays are expected on most flights. Check-in counters for the Haneda to Kitakyushu are located on the far end of Terminal One and are well equipped with self-check-in kiosks, as well as baggage drop and service desks. The counters are well staffed and I got a boarding pass from the kiosk and then check-in my single piece of bag. Efficiency is just remarkable here and no one is screaming and everyone are so well mannered. As all domestic flights go, your checked bags have to be X-rayed first before being tagged. I had a bit of time and found a nice soba restaurant in the wonderful Terminal One shopping mall complex. The flight was running ten minutes late, so no hurry here.
Security line was not crowded and everyone had to scan the bar code before going through the checks. You get a little receipt with the latest gate information and here in Japan, you can bring bottled water or drinks, as they have a machine to detect whether they are really drinks or something else. The staffers are all friendly and professional and TSA can really take a lesson here. It is so pleasant and good to have a drama-free day. The inbound flight was a bit late, but boarding began at 6:34pm, and the F/As were greeting each passengers and passing out headsets (of course nothing fancy here). The cabin looked really smart and was spotless. The seats came with cup holder, magazine pockets well placed, coat hooks, personal TV and power outlets. This flight was unsurprisingly filled with businessmen returning home after day of business in Tokyo. The flight was about 2/3 full as most middle seats remained empty. Star Flyer has this smart design regarding middle seats. You can pull down a cocktail table and allow more rooms for everyone and Star Flyer definitely made an effort to block middle seats. Legrest is also installed and comfort is definitely emphasized.
Whole boarding took seven minutes and door was closed at 6:41pm. Watching the boarding process in Japan is just a delight and everyone are considerate and travel light. Just found their seats, moved out of the aisle and sat down! We pushed back at 6:44pm and began our rather slow taxing to R/W16L. The takeoff was one of the roughest I had experienced ever, and as we gained speed, you can feel the winds blowing hard and the plane was struggling to keep a straight line. As we lifted off at 6:56pm, the aft section can definitely experience severe swinging. You can hear some surprising reactionary voices.
Star Flyer has a personal entertainment unit for each seats, it plays a number of short features on various channels. There is a movie and they smartly divided into two, so people can watch the last half of the movie on a later flight. There is only one English language channel, which is BBC News, which I watch mostly and of course the flight map. The routing took us over Yokohama, Mount Fjui, Nagoya, Komatsu, Otsu, Aka, Kurashiki, Fukayama, Kure, Iwakuni and Shuan, and we cruised at 30,000fee before staying at 28,000feet due to weather. Flying time is an hour and twenty minutes. In the seat pockets, there is a shopping magazine, a small in house magazine and a good mini QG magazine.
Seat belt sign turned off at 7:13pm and beverages were served, and the choices are coffee, tea, Orange Iced tea, apple juice and Iced Green tea. Due to the on and off turbulence, the F/A provided a cup cover and straws when they serve drinks. These little things make the travel experience even more special. Dsark chocolate squares are passed out with hot drinks but you can request them. I asked for them and the F/As filled a cup with those squares. The catering service is okay and given the short duration of flights, they are more than sufficient. The F/As were all professional and polite and my request for the chocolate thins was met with a smile and a cup filled of these delicious sweets. The F/As were constantly walking up and down the aisles and provided a highend service.
Descent began at 7:54pm and it was another windy night at Kitakyushu. With no traffic, we touched down on R/W18 of this man-made island at 8:16pm, fourteen minutes ahead of schedule. We parked at gate 2 two minutes late with almost no taxiing. Kitakyushu airport is really small with only three jet bridges. There was one other plane at the tarmac – a Japan Express’ Boeing 737-800 winglet JA306J heading back to Haneda, and our aircraft will return to Haneda one more time. Bags came out quickly and to my surprise, each check-in bag was wrapped in plastic bag – not environmentally friendly but very customer friendly. There were rain in both ends and I am just so amazed that this little airline will go through all these efforts to ensure a safe and pleasant journey. Honestly I can’t see any airline in the world that can accomplish this kind of service – a true boutique airline at its best.
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