ANA launches “Inspiration of Japan” luxury in-flight experience

by Annie Scott on


With the new motto “Inspiration of Japan,” Japanese carrier ANA (aka All Nippon Airways) is launching a new luxury flight experience, the like of which we’ve never seen.

When one thinks of Japanese hotels, supreme convenience comes to mind — the curtains on a switch by the bed, everything from dramatic lighting schemes to room service controlled by a touchscreen panel — and ANA is bringing that personal accommodation and comfort to flying with their seating.

In the video above, I’ll give you a tour of the various seating classes, including Japan’s first 180° reclining Business Class seats. With the new floor plan, all seats in Business and First Class are aisle seats. The plane will also be equipped with the world’s first in-flight rice steamer, designed exclusively for ANA, guaranteeing the freshest rice you’ve ever had at 30,000 feet.

I chatted briefly with Gary Weiss, ANA’s Director of Market Development about the changes.

Gadling: What’s the philosophy behind these new developments?

Gary Weiss: This is a long-range investment. A lot of carriers are re-trenching; cutting capacity and cutting corners. We decided to just go for it. 2010 represents a great opportunity, with the opening up of more slots at Narita and Haneda. If we don’t do it now, we’ll probably never do it, so we decided, “Let’s hedge our bets, get the best product in the sky going, and we should be able to retain a good yield.”

G: So, rather than cutting corners, you’re making your brand more luxurious?GW: Correct.

G: Is that in response to the economy?

GW: No, this has actually been in research in development since prior to September ’08. It was a good seven, ten year plan. We wanted to be first with some of these luxurious, innovative products — and I’m glad that we have the guts to take the risk.

G: How do these changes translate to your rock-bottom, Economy Class passengers?

GW: It’s the same idea. We actually made it bigger and better. There’s three more inches of seat pitch, the distance between the rows. That intrusive seat back doesn’t come into your face anymore — your neighbor in front of you won’t hit you in the head or close your laptop.

The first flights to include these new features will be the Narita-New York route on the new Boeing 777-300ER, commencing in February 2010. Keep an eye on the ANA SkyWeb for more updates.

Inflight Wi-Fi provider Aircell secures a massive round of new financing

by Scott Carmichael on

Things are looking very good for inflight Wi-Fi provider Aircell. They just passed the 700 installed plane milestone, nine commercial airlines have committed to the service, and they are on track to introduce a new streaming video service on a trial basis.

Of course, when you go from just 1 plane to 700 in a little over a year, you are probably burning through cash like it is going out of style. Which is why today’s news of a new financing round is great news for travelers. The company secured $176 Million, a fantastic feat in an otherwise gloomy financial market.

With at least one new plane a day being outfitted with the equipment required for in-flight Internet access, we slowly move towards the magic day when all major carriers have Wi-Fi on a majority of their fleet.

Air France goes prix fixe, not buffet

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Starting in April, Air France is going to make you pay for what you consume. If you consume only one seat, that’s all you’ll have to buy. But, if you require more than one seat, expect to whip out your plastic. For some reason, airline spokesman Nicolas Petteau calls it “a question of security,” but I don’t think so. To me, it seems more like a question of getting what you pay for … and asking you to pay for everything you get.

The new policy includes refunded additional fares for obese passengers taking up two seats on a plane that isn’t full. Air France estimates that these refunds will be granted in 90 percent of big-passenger cases. Nonetheless, the airline cites economic factors as behind the decision (aside from the bizarro comment about security), which is not only believable but appropriate.

Air France, which denied the policy in the French media, ran into some trouble over this issue three years ago. A passenger weighing 353 pounds successfully sued the airline, which had to pay him $11,423 in damages and the cost of the second seat from New Delhi to Paris. (Let’s just hope he had an empty seat next to him.)

Other airlines have similar policies, including Southwest and JetBlue — and I applaud them. Forget about everything except the simple fact that the ticket you buy entitles you to one seat on the flight. If one seat does not meet your needs, buy two seats. After all, if I go to a restaurant and buy one entrée and remain hungry, I have to buy a second one.

Make your bag stand out – Airplane tip

by Gadling Staff on

Make your luggage stand out! Customizing your luggage prevents others from mistakenly picking it up and helps you spot your luggage faster.

Customizing your luggage need not be expensive. Inexpensive options include:

  • tieing brightly-colored ribbons to the handles of each piece of luggage;
  • affixing bumper stickers to the hard, external parts of bags;
  • wrapping multi-colored duct tape to the outside of a piece of luggage;
  • monogram-stenciling the bag with paint;
  • attaching unbreakable holiday ornaments to a bag’s handles.

Pocketknife found on plane causes major security drama at Dallas airport

by Scott Carmichael on

The discovery of a pocket knife on an American Eagle plane at Dallas Fort Worth airport triggered an aircraft evacuation, passenger rescreening and a two hour delay.

The knife was found by a passenger between two seats, and while common sense tells us that someone probably found it in their pocket after simply forgetting to remove it, the TSA treats these incidents as a major breach of security.

Of course, the stupid knife should never have made it through the checkpoint in the first place, but items making it past the checkpoint is barely news any longer.

I fully understand asking the TSA to come pick up the knife, but to force everyone off the plane is just stupid – and reinforces the idea that they are not doing their job correctly. If the TSA had faith in what it does to protect us, they should have taken the knife, apologized to all the passengers, and let the plane depart on time.