Jetstar Japan Inaugural International Service from Kansai to Hong Kong Feb 28, 2015

[Carfield]

Here is another inaugural trip report, and as I have said before, Japanese airlines really put great emphasis on these inaugural flights, and these inaugurals are great marketing opportunities. While there are differences between Japanese and American airlines’ inaugural, you can feel the heightened enthusiasm among the Japanese passengers, and there are amply opportunities for photos, and social media will take over the promotional role for these routes, especially among the young travelers, whom Jetstar Japan and major low cost airlines are targeting. I honestly did not expect much because Jetstar Japan was a low cost airline, but was pleasantly surprised with a generous gift bag and a few cool photo opportunities with Jetstar Japan mascot. Frankly, Osaka Kansai to Hong Kong is pretty much a crowded route for both full service airlines (ANA, Air India, and Cathay Pacific) and LCCs (Hong Kong Express and Peach), and I have a bit of reservation on how successful this route will be. But with the low exchange rate, the number of Hong Kong passengers heading to Japan will continue to grow, and it should be okay for now. I am sure Jetstar Japan has its eyes on other regional destinations. Since I flew Peach from Hong Kong to Kansai, I will compare them a bit in terms of these additional services and catering. However, the service on today’s Jetstar Japan inaugural was spectacular because of its nature, and give the CEO was on board, I did not think today’s flight was a typical Jetstar Japan flight. I had compared Air Asia Japan (new defunct but Mark II will return later this year), Jetstar Japan, and Peach previously, and Jetstar Japan was my least favorite. Today’s flight definitely changes my perception but inaugural flight is hardly your usual flight. Anyway let moves on to the real report!

February 28, 2015
GK 61 KIX-HKG Lv0955 Arr1310 Airbus A320-200 Sharklet JA19JJ

Here is the link to the full album:
http://s1213.photobucket.com/user/Ca...GInaugural2015




Jetstar Japan uses the South Concourse in Terminal One, and shares its counters with other Jetstar franchises operating into KIX, including Jetstar Asia and Jetstar Australia. Three counters and one service desk were opened when I arrived two hours prior to departure. There were many staffs around today, especially the supervisor types who are all wearing suits. As usual the check-in agents were efficient and polite. There were two Australian staffs around but mainly took a back seat role. But I appreciate their presence as they were cute (haha) but seriously, I can ask questions with no misunderstanding due to language barrier. When I asked about any special event, I was told that those would be mainly media-related, but there were a few surprises for passengers. As I exited from the check-in area, I received a gift bag, which was a nice gesture. I just loved that cute boarding (first flight) certificate. You can feel that many thoughts are given on the design, and it was not a generic first flight certificate.

Familiar cabin luggage weighing station


There was a flower arrangement on the table (I did not read Japanese but guess that it was actually a gift from another corporation wishing Jetstar Japan’s inaugural flight success.


The crowd began to build up soon… the flight was 100% full this morning.


Going through security was a nightmare here at Terminal One during the morning bank, as most Asian regional flights between eight and noon. I will advice any travelers to allocate at least an hour to go through custom and immigration, especially if you are non-Japanese citizen. Peach uses its own terminal (warehouse is more appropriate) at Kansai, and I sort of miss the smaller crowd over there. However, Terminal one is still better, as most of the restaurants and shops are located here. I ended up being stuck with a Vietnamese tour group, but fortunately the Japanese staffs were very aggressive in the queue control. Immigration was another bottleneck, but the real craziness occurred at the duty free shops, as all these shops were filled with people. I was trying to buy a nice bottle of Japanese whiskey and none was available. The Mainland Chinese tourists are suddenly into Japanese whiskeys now, so they are buying up the stock. I gave up and decided to see the scene at the gate.

Couple planes on the way
Garuda Indonesia Airbus A330-300


Singapore Airlines A330-300


JA19JJ was already getting ready at the gate. It flew in from Narita the previous night, and this plane was one of the newer planes for Jetstar Japan, and was equipped with Sharklet. It was delivered in November 2014.

JA19JJ was getting catered for the new flight.


Finally ready


CEO of Jetstar Japan – Miyuki Suzuki was already here, and she was doing interviews with the press.


Jetstar Japan mascot was of course here today wearing a Chinese themed costume. I believe that Jetstar Japan was the only Jetstar franchise with a mascot. He was really friendly and taking photos with passengers.

[Carfield]

Here is the stage for the inaugural flight!



Two lions came out next and it was not a traditional lion dance, but rather another cute mascots for more photo opportunities. The only thing missing was a hashtag, so people can tag pictures and promote them at instragram, facebook, and twitters.


Jetstar Japan mascot and the lions


Boarding began at 9:33am at gate 26. It was not very orderly this morning, as there was press everything and other objects blocking the cabin door. They usually boarded from the back to the front, but today rules were not enforced, as announcements could barely be heard. Regardless, everything was settled at 9:55am and the door was closed right on time. Yes 180 passengers were all in their seats in twenty-two minutes, given the hassles and photo taking around the plane.


Boarding: a F/A and CEO Suzuki were thanking everyone. I congratulated her in English and she immediately thanked me in English.


Cabin Manager was at the entrance greeting everyone.


Cabin shot:
Row 1 – unlike many LCC A320s, Jetstar has eliminated the bulkhead wall on the ABC side at row 1.
Pro: Definitely more legroom
Con: No storage space and you have to face the F/As for an unusual long period of time, especially Jetstar Japan made their F/As take their seats earlier than other airlines. And you have exit row duties, unlike other A320s with a bulkhead wall. Armrests are not removable/liftable on Row 1 – both sides.

1ABC


1DEF


Row 12:
Non-reclining seats at exit row, but I noticed that most Japanese passengers did not recline their seats. It shows how courteous this culture is. Anyway, armrests can be lifted, as the tray table is located at the seat in front of you.


Row 13:
Exit row with recline available! Armrests can be lifted, as tray tables are located at the seat in front of you!


Out of all the extra legroom seats, I actually prefer 1DEF, as they still have a bulkhead wall with some small spaces for storage. It may have less width, but the ability to exit the plane and to buy food first (or to use your voucher first) is a good benefit.

Since we were on the topic for exit rows, there was a little incident. There were two Mainland Chinese passengers – mother and son - sitting next to me. The son spoke average English, while the mother did not speak any English at all. She could not even comprehend Basic English. They were speaking in some regional dialects but I was glad that I did not know what they were speaking because the mom was very upset. Well the F/A basically told the two passengers that her mother could not sit in the exit row because she did not speak either Japanese or English. And the son immediately pointed out that they paid extra money for this seat. She said, “yes,” but you agreed to the terms and conditions clearly listed in the website. They asked for bulkhead seats swap, but Jetstar Japan considered Row 1 as exit rows too, especially 1ABC did not have a wall. In the end, the mother reluctantly agreed to move to another seat after much heated discussions with her son. The F/A managed to get her an aisle seat directly behind and the Japanese lady was happy with her middle exit row seat. So here’s a warning! If your travel companion did not speak English or Japanese, you will not be able to sit at any of these extra legroom seats that Jetstar Japan offers. It is a bit different from Peach or Vanilla Air. Please plan accordingly! Despite the angry mother, everything was settled. The crew manager ended up sending a mandarin speaking F/A trying to calm thing. In general, I find Jetstar Japan F/As to be very strict with following safety regulations, which is not necessarily a bad thing, as there are no “ifs” or “buts”. The F/As were polite but firm!

Regular seats:

[Carfield]

I really hate this new magazine pocket design, as it really eliminates spaces for storing small items like cell phones, bottled beverages, and even books. Without the under seat storage at these extra legroom seats, there is more hassle, but I guess the extra legroom compensates the inconvenience.


Close up view of the seat


Magazine pocket – Jetstar Japan magazine (mostly Japanese), safety card, menu, duty free catalog, and other advertisement cards


Safety card – additional one for exit row passengers



Café:




Jetstar A320 next door


Double Jetstar

[Carfield]

Farewell from Jetstar Japan team – I really love seeing ground staffs saying farewells to passengers! That is a real show of appreciation.




Busy South Concourse




We pushed back at 9:57am and with two runways at Kansai, traffic was pretty smooth.
We took off from R/W6R at 10:07am.




Flying time was three hours and fifty-three minutes this morning with a cruising attitude of 32,000feet. I think our holding time was not too bad today, due to the special nature of our flight. The routing was fairly typical, which took us along Kochi, Susaki, Sukumo, Kobayashi, Kagoshima, and leaving Japanese land after passing Osumi Islands. Then we saw land again as we passed Keelung, Taiwan, New Taipei City, Hsinchu and Tongxiao, before turning into HKG after passing Makung.

After seat belt sign was turned off, CEO Miyuki Suzuki made a welcome speech in both Japanese and English. There was no shocking content, but she basically thanked everyone for joining her on this inaugural flight and significant milestone for Jetstar Japan. She hopes everyone can fly GK again in the future. Plus there was a lucky draw after the food and beverage service. Everyone clapped!



Cruising at 32,000feet

[Carfield]

Then the onboard service began, and I was actually disappointed that no “real” hot meals/dishes were offered, as Jetstar Japan was moving to medium haul regional flights. Given how Peach sold out all the hot dishes on the outbound leg, there were definitely profits to be made. With a pre-order system, it will even be better. When I flew Jetstar Asia previously, I could pre-book hot entrées on flights like SIN to TPE, or TPE to KIX. I was surprised that no real hot meals were offered at all. This flight also ran into inventory issues like Peach on the HKG to KIX flight the day before. Peach did double catering at Kansai, but by the time the flight was returning to Kansai, there were no hot meals available. I was in Row 1. But Jetstar has an additional issue, as some of its bundles have a inflight voucher component. There were two carts – one from the front to middle (1-15), and the second cart from aft (30 to 15), so all those middle rows basically got the leftover. I was really looking forward to ordering the ham & cheese sandwich and the fried chicken. By the time they got to my row (13), there were no more sandwiches (both ham & cheese and tonkatsu – deep fried pork cutlet) or even hot dogs. Without the voucher system, it may be fine, but with that voucher system, and most max bundle passengers are sitting at these extra legroom seats. It may make sense to make sure you get their orders first. Ultimately, I think both LCCs need to consider Air Asia’s pre-order system, and for Jetstar, it should be easy to implement, as other franchises are doing the same thing. I don’t mind paying extra for a premium hot meal to be honest.

Coke Zero – Peach did not carry this popular drink, so I was more than happy to see it being served.


Curry Pan – okay



I love how they serve it street style wrapping


Fried chicken – this looked nothing like the menu – in the menu, they gave me the impression that they will be like chicken strips, but in reality, I got these two pieces of super oily chicken patties.


The café service finally finished in fifty-five minutes, and CEO Suzuki returned to the PA system to announce the winners for the Sky 100 Hong Kong Observation Deck admission tickets (for two) and afternoon tea set (for two).


I love the Jet5teatime slogan!



Duty free shopping was offered afterward. The crews were fairly busy throughout the flight, so I was surprised to see a F/A cleaning up the bathroom after the meal service was completed. I did not expect to see that in a full service airline, not to mention a LCC. But then today was a bit special. The F/As were very courteous and friendly, and all four of them were definitely the more experienced hires that provided good service.

Full flight


Let talk a look at the inaugural gift bag!


My favorite – Boarding/First Flight certificate with the Jetstar Japan mascot


jetstar branded items

[Carfield]

Various tourist maps and vouchers – Harbor City focus/sponsored


There is a Harbor City Privilege card, some Harbor City food dollar coupons, and a coupon for Fok Min Tong Tea Shop.


Descent soon began at 12:10pm Hong Kong local time, which is an hour behind Japan.


It was a gradual descent and from the flightradar 24 track, we slowed down and took some ATC delay. Unfortunately, it was very cloudy in Hong Kong, so not much to see until final approach!




We landed on R/W7L at 1:00pm.


Taxing was relatively short, as we got a real nice gate today. Gate 20 was one of the closest gates to the immigration and custom area. These LCCs usually parked at the North Satellite or used bus gates, especially Jetstar Franchise. I presume that there will be more ceremonies taking place before the flight returned to Osaka. But for future Jetstar Japan flyers, don’t expect that wonderful gate!




I waited till the last moment to snap some pictures!




Not a really good picture but both the pilot, a Japanese born and raised in Hong Kong for 16 years, and the crew manager were saying goodbye to passengers. The pilot even used Cantonese. The pilot was very tall.

[Carfield]

JA19JJ at Gate 20




About baggage delivery, the first bag came out around 1:28pm, which was about twenty-two minutes after arrival, so it was not bad at all. The only problem was that the belt was shared by two other arrivals that had similar arrival times.

In conclusion, it was a successful and fun inaugural flight, and for a Low Cost Carrier, Jetstar Japan was definitely putting much effort in celebrating this special occasion. I am happy to meet the Jetstar Japan mascot and it is a brilliant marketing idea. I still think the catering needs to improve because these flights are no longer those short haps across Japan. You need to offer more options, especially Peach is a very well run LCC with a solid product and good service. I feel like that passengers are actually willing to buy food and drinks while flying this LCC now, especially cabin baggage restrictions are strict. They need to stock more of these items, and the bundle provides meal vouchers, but I think providing a real pre-ordered meal would be better. The website should be able to handle such requests, especially jetstar Asia and long-haul are offering these pre-order meal services. These A320s all have ovens, and they could heat up these pre-order meals before taking care other passengers. Then the passengers could decide if they want to eat in land. You can also have a better calculation on loading, and you can even offer some special hot meals for pre-order only. I honestly will not hesitate to spend $15 to 20 for a full hot meal. Regardless, they need to be more conscious on loading more food especially they are doing same day return. Low cost air travels have slowly become a reality in Asia now, and these Japanese LCCs seem to grasp a good balance on providing a solid product without compromising on services. KIX to HKG is a competitive route, but most airlines are still adding capacity, so hopefully Jetstar Japan was not too late.

I hope you have fun reading this report!

Carfield

[tfung]

Great report!

[SQGamespeed]

Thanks for another great TR Carfield!

[Kyo]

Thanks for the TR, but just pointing out - with the advice you have in your conclusion, you could've just told the CEO on the plane directly at any point. I'm sure she would have listened.

[yflyer]

Very nice TR, Carfield! The food for purchase on this flight looks quite tempting!