HI RES IMAGE (click for larger). JAL Boeing 787 Dreamliner at Paine Field. Photo by Boeing.
Japan Airlines (JAL) announced today that they plan to take official delivery of their first 787 Dreamliner this Sunday, March 25th, with a delivery ceremony to follow on the 26th. The aircraft is then scheduled to take off from Paine Field at about 4pm local time on Monday to head to Narita in Tokyo with JAL pilots at the controls.
The airline plans to start operating their first Dreamliner on their new Boston to Tokyo route, currently scheduled to start on April 22, 2012. JAL has also announced the intention of starting 787 service between San Diego and Tokyo later in the year.
HI RES IMAGE (click for larger). Executive Class cabin on JAL's first Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Photo by Boeing.
JAL becomes the second airline to take delivery of a 787, but this aircraft will represent a few firsts: It will be the first one to be delivered with GEnx engines, the first to be commercially fly a route to the US and the first to be used on a brand new route (ANA’s 787s have replaced other aircraft on routes that already existed).
The first aircraft is configured in a two class layout, with 42 seats in business class and 144 seats in economy.
HI RES IMAGE (click for larger). The economy cabin inside JAL's first Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Photo by Boeing.
The business (or executive) class seats are in a 2-2-2 layout and provide about 60″ of seat pitch and a bit over 21″ of width. The seat will recline to about 171 degrees. The Economy class is configured in a 2-4-2 layout and will provide 31″ seat pitch and 18.5″ seat width.
HI RES IMAGE (click for larger). JAL's Boeing 787 Dreamliner taking off at Paine Field. Photo by Boeing.
JAL’s new in-flight entertainment system, called SKY MANGA, will also debut on the aircraft. The interior has a very different looking atmosphere than ANA’s Dreamliner cabin.
I don’t understand why they aren’t doing full lie flat seats. Its 2012, its a brand new 787, its pathetic.
the interior of a plane is adequate exactly as the customer wants
While the seats in business class are exactly what the customer wants, for international business class it is not adequate.
Congratulations on your beautiful new state of the art B787.
This revolutionary aircraft will change how we fly, especially on long, thin routes.
The 787 opens up routes like Boston-Narita where operational expenses were a challenge. The fuel efficiency of this aircraft will change everything.
This aircraft is the second coming of the 767-200ER, which turned the world on its ear for range, comfort and dispatch rate.
The new 787-8 is a huge step forward for the airlines and their customers.
I travelled by bus in Brazil last month, for my surprise, the brazilian bus have a seat more confortable than the Boeing 787….for the passengers that fly in economy class the seat is unconfortable.
As far as I recall, all the business class seats currently going into the 787’s have an option to lay flat. I know the ANA ones do, and I’m pretty sure the JAL ones do as well.