JL 787 PEK-HND and SQ 77WN HND-SIN : Is this as good as Y gets?

[yflyer]

Last November, I travelled to Beijing with Mrs yflyer, and while she flew directly back home to Singapore after the trip, I extended my trip for a few days.

From Beijing, I flew JAL's 787 Dreamliner service to Tokyo and spent a few days there before heading home on SIA's 77WN (For those new to this forum, 77WN is SQ's designation for their Boeing 777-300ER aircraft with the 2013 cabin products).

I flew all these trips in Economy class. While trips in F or J are the most memorable, these flights on JL and SQ were good examples of how to do Y the right way.

The right way? What do I mean by that, you ask?

These days, most airlines operate the 787 with a 9-abreast Y cabin, and a frightening number of airlines now operate the 777 with a 10-abreast Y cabin. These cabin layouts suck. I avoid them if at all possible.

By contrast, JL's 787 economy cabin is currently an 8-abreast 2-4-2. And SQ has a wonderful new 2013 economy product on their 77WN that still retains the 9-abreast 3-3-3 configuration. To me that is half the battle won.

And apart from the seat, SQ and JL offered catering, IFE and cabin service which were quite outstanding, at least on these sectors and on this occasion.

Let's get straight into the details...

[yflyer]

My flight from Beijing to Tokyo Haneda was JL 22, a 4.40pm departure.



This is a 3+ hour sector, operated by JL's 787-8 series aircraft in a two-class configuration - J and Y.



The J cabin, laid out 2-2-2. These J seats are angled lie-flat, which are not state of the art. There are also JAL 787's with a new fully flat J seat.



The Y cabin, in a spacious 2-4-2 layout.

The first Y cabin...



The 2nd Y cabin...



Most other operators of the Dreamliner have 9 seats per row, in a cramped 3-3-3. JAL stands out with 8-abreast in Y.

I have flown Dreamliners operated by BA, UA, AI, NH and QR, all of whom operate 9 abreast in economy. JL's Y cabin is the best of these by a large margin.

[yflyer]

There is decent seat pitch on the JAL 787, with just a slim underseat IFE box, which doesn't really obstruct legroom much in the middle bank of seats, although they do take up a little more space under the window seats.







On this flight, I snagged an emergency row seat...



...with more legroom than I would ever need...



...although all that legroom came with added responsibilities.



The emex door does have a protrusion, but it is quite far away from the seat, so it doesn't really affect legroom unless you are Yao Ming.

[yflyer]

A lot of room in the middle bank of bulkhead seats too.



Large windows with electronically dimmed shades.



Individual air vents.



Widescreen IFE, with both a touchscreen and a controller...





A/C power...



Each seat came with headphones with the 2-pin airline socket.



Bathrooms with granite-finish counter tops and brushed metal fittings.

[yflyer]

Take-off into the night sky...



Decent seat recline...





More pics of the amazing 2-4-2 cabin ambience...





The roominess of this 8-abreast Y layout compared to the more typical 9-abreast 787 Y cabin is striking and very noticeable.

For comparison, this is how a 787 9-abreast Y cabin on another airline looks...



The difference is not subtle!

[yflyer]

A full dinner was served on this 3.5 hour sector...



My meal was chicken and rice...



This came with two starters, fruit, and miso soup.

The starters were a very fresh and crisp smoked salmon salad...



...and simmered vegetables...



The main of chicken and rice tasted great...



After that sumptuous meal, Haagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream was served...this was in addition to the fruit which came on the tray.



A choice of complimentary beer, wine and other alcoholic beverages were also served, along with green tea, coffee or tea.

An excellent meal!

[yflyer]

JAL's MAGIC-V IFE is quite impressive, with high quality video and audio, and a decent selection of movies and music, even if the range of programs isn't as wide as SQ's Krisworld or EK's ICE.



I took the opportunity to watch part of a new Japanese remake of Godzilla...





...as well as a program featuring chef Nobu Matsuhisa...

[yflyer]

Time went by quickly on this flight...we landed on time in Haneda.



Overall...a superb flight, with a brilliant hard product and catering, as well as superb cabin service.

I remain very impressed with JAL. I've flown on their 767, 777 and their 787, and while all these equipment types are fine, my favourite type when flying JAL remains the 787 Dreamliner, with its marvelous 2-4-2 Y cabin.

Will JAL succumb to commercial pressure and reconfigure these Dreamliners as 3-3-3? I certainly hope not. Fly JAL's Dreamliners in 2-4-2 while you can!

[yflyer]

I spent a few days in Tokyo before heading home.

I stayed at the Westin Tokyo, and was given a room with wonderful views of the Tokyo Tower by day...



...and by night.



On one of the evenings there, my colleague brought me to an Izakaya joint in Shibuya that I would never have been able to visit on my own...

A fairly central location in Shibuya, but tucked away down a side street...



...and with no menu...just ink on paper pasted wall to wall...



Needless to say, the sake and the food were delicious...



Glistening ginko nuts with salt...



An egg on mashed potato (possibly with minced fish added) and chives...



Barbequed pork belly on skewers...



...and fish done in many different ways...





I would very much like to head there again, even on my own. Assuming I can even find it again.

I'll just go in, sit down, and point at the menu (or at other diners' food) at random. Can't possibly order anything bad a place like this!

[yflyer]

My flight home was SQ631 HND-SIN, an 8.50am departure.

This was just a short visit to Tokyo, so I didn't have much of an opportunity to eat sushi, so after checking in, rather than head to the ANA lounge in the airside area, I headed up the escalator in the landside area of the terminal to Ariso Sushi for a sushi breakfast.



This is a great restaurant to get your maguro fix before a flight...



I ate my fill of sushi, including several grades of maguro toro, as well as uni and anago sushi...



I especially liked the 3-piece set (bottom left in the picture above) of maguro: a piece each of regular, chutoro and otoro sushi. A great way to compare the different cuts of fatty tuna belly...



I ordered plate after plate...I could have stayed at the counter stuffing my face for a very long time, but alas it was getting close to departure time, and I still had to clear security and immigration, so I reluctantly tore myself away from the counter and headed airside to gate 105, which might hold the record for the smallest gate seating area of all the gates in Haneda...

[yflyer]

At the gate, SQ's 77WN, registration 9V-SNA, was being prepped for departure...



9V-SNA is a 2 year old 777-300ER with three classes of service: F, J and Y.

This is the J cabin, laid out 1-2-1, with the 2013 iteration of SQ's business class seat.





The Y cabin is laid out 3-3-3. This is a very comfortable and spacious layout for a 777.



I find the 2013 Y seats to be very good, and a step up in comfort from the previous generation of 2006 Y seats that are found on the 77W and A380.



Recline is excellent, and seat pitch is good as well, with no underseat obstructions.





There is a paddle shaped footrest, which I find very useful on red-eye flights if I need to rest my feet when I sleep.



Each seat comes with a fabric pillow and blanket.

[yflyer]

IFE is a touch-enabled widescreen, with great picture quality.



There is also a separate handheld touchscreen controller with buttons for key functions, including volume, light and call buttons.



2 USB charging ports.



Complimentary earbuds with a 2-pin airline plug. (Don't use them: For better sound quality, bring your own headphones and an airline headphone adapter.)



A/C Power...



Wonderful cabin ambience...



It is a world apart from the 10-abreast Y cabin configuration that Emirates and several other airlines now use on the 777.

[yflyer]

A hot towel to freshen up at the start of the flight...



Followed by brunch...



Today's menu...









The tray...always great to have a real glass (And metal cutlery)!



I opted for the hamburger steak...



As this was a brunch service, there was no starter, however there was a small bowl of beautifully cut fresh fruit...



The hamburger steak main was very satisfying.



And after that, dessert...an unusual (And very tasty) red bean and mochi (?) topping on vanilla ice cream.

[yflyer]

The Krisworld IFE was great as well. This is not the latest version of the IFE interface, but the program selection was huge.





That month (November 2016), Krisworld included the whole of Season 6 of Game of Thrones, presented uncut.



Movies included a local movie, "Long Long Time Ago", which I found very good...



The show has subtitles, but your enjoyment of the show would be even better if you understand hokkien!



Highly recommended, especially if you have pioneer generation friends or relatives in Singapore, who will appreciate this look back at Singapore's recent history...

And of course this aircraft comes with 3D maps...()

[yflyer]

More views of the seat, which I consider one of the best, if not the best, Y seats I have tried.



The 9-abreast layout means that each seat is very wide, noticeably wider and more comfortable than a 10-abreast 777 or 9-abreast 787 seat.



A very spacious cabin...



Now compare that with a 777 from another airline configured in 10-abreast 3-4-3...



A middle seat on a full 777 in 10-abreast is the stuff of nightmares.

The difference in comfort is very apparent and obvious to anyone who travels regularly.

When I book flights, I avoid 777 flights with 10-abreast Y wherever possible. On the exceedling rare occasion I have done it, it is because:

1. I really have no choice (Schedule, routing etc).
2. I am flying with my wife and kids, and don't mind rubbing shoulders and elbows intimately with them the whole flight.
3. I am quite sure that the flight will be lightly loaded, and that I will have an empty seat or two next to me.
4. I am on a budget holiday and am willing to suffer on my way to my destination.