JAL has revealed photos of the new seat designs for all four classes of its flagship Boeing 777-300ER fleet, which will debut on the daily Tokyo-London service from January 2013 before being rolled out to New York and other US and European destinations.
The seats will also make their way onto JAL's 767-300ER jets, starting with the lie-flat Sky Suite business class product, in the second half of 2013.
First Class
Although christened the JAL Suite, these are more of a 'mini-suite' – along the same lines you'd see at the pointy end on Qantas, or British Airways – rather than the full-enclosed private cabins of Emirates and Singapore Airlines.
The 777s will feature eight first class berths equipped with all the mod cons, including a 23 inch flat-screen telly.
The 83cm wide seat converts into a 2 metre bed.
We love the spacious table – no awkward juggling of laptop and dinnerware here!
And speaking of space, there's plenty of stowage for your in-flight kit.
Business Class
49 fully-flat Sky Suite beds are ensconced in their own cubicles, going further down the privacy path than even Cathay Pacific's business class design.
The lie-flat beds can accommodate 1.88 metres from feet to follicles, with width varying from 65cm down to 53cm at the base.
The cubicles also sport a class-beating 23 inch monitor, up from the current 15.4 inches.
Despite a 2-3-2 layout, JAL has staggered the seats to ensure that every passenger has direct and unobstructed access to the aisle.
Couples can't really sit together, but they can open the privacy screen and share a toast.
Again, we always like to see room for cool-looking carry-on bags.
Premium Economy
The 40 Sky Premium seats are closer to regional business class in their design.
JAL has retained a fixed backrest "for an undisturbed space even when the passenger in front reclines"...
... but says there's now an extra 4 inches of pitch over the 38 inches of the current Sky Shell seats.
The seats have an extra 2.8 inch of slide over the current design and are 48cm wide.
And if there's nothing to watch on your 12.1 inch seatback personal video screen, why not make your own fun and create a 3D pie-chat?
There's a footrest which folds down from the seat in front...
... plus these nooks for water bottles.
Economy
This isn't the the usual angle for trumpeting legroom, but we can live with it.
According to JAL, the aptly-named Sky Wider seats gain 3 inches of pitch for a total of 34 inches, due to the adoption of a slimmer seatback design which affords an extra 7cm of space at knee-level.
If you're travelled in any of JAL's current seats, what do you make of these upgrades? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts!
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About David Flynn
David Flynn is the editor of Australian Business Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
1 on 15/9/12 by fxdxdy