Japan’s Largest Airline Unveils New First Class ‘Suites’ With Closing Doors and 43-Inch TVs
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Consistently awarded with five-star standard ratings, ANA, Japan’s largest airline, has long treated passengers to on-board innovations and upgraded comforts, earning accolades for its service and Business Class cuisine. Now, they’re upping their game again, with the introduction of twelve completely re-designed Boeing 777-300ER aircrafts—the first of which will take to the skies on the Tokyo-London route on August 2. Created in partnership with famed Japanese architect Kengo Kuma and noted British product/transport design studio Acumen, the new planes feature all-new First Class and Business Class suites, a Japanese-influenced décor, 4K entertainment systems, wellness-focused Panasonic lighting, and more.
For the premium cabins, Tokyo- and Paris-based architect Kuma aimed to “combine the best of Eastern and Westerns design traditions,” he notes. “My work is about understanding how space is used and creating the most comfortable conditions in any environment, [so] the design process [was] just as much about what we decided to include as what we decided to omit.” In First Class, the process resulted in The Suites, spacious, fully-enclosed individual compartments with privacy doors, 43-inch 4K personal monitors (the first of their kind on a commercial airliner), and moveable partitions that allow two seats to be combined for passengers traveling together.
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In Business Class, the new design was inspired by modern, multi-functional Japanese homes. Crafted using warm, residential materials like rosewood and Japanese ash wood, each oversized compartment—dubbed The Room—has wide, sofa-style seating (double the size of previous options), plenty of storage space, and flexible privacy doors that can be adjusted to allow shared dining or meetings with fellow travelers. Both First and Business seats will be adorned with bespoke mattresses and bedding by legendary design house Nishikawa, and both cabins feature wellness-friendly lighting custom-designed by Panasonic.
The innovations don’t stop there. The aircraft entry way has been re-figured to evoke a hotel-style reception area, and a new self-service bar/ lounge has been outfitted with drink- and snack-stocked mini-fridges. On the culinary front, Business Class passengers can pre-order meals from six different menus; dishes will then be served on upgraded tableware. And Premium Economy and Economy Class passengers will see differences, as well: the new cabins use Japanese-inspired materials, like fabrics printed with tatami mat patterns, along with upgraded touch-screen monitors and headrests that can be adjusted six ways.
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