ANA All Nippon Airways have started flying their Airbus A380 “Flying Honu” between Tokyo Narita and Honolulu on 24 May 2019. I was among the first passengers to fly on the inaugural flight. There were lot of good celebrations at the boarding gate and on-board.
This is a detail trip report of the first ANA A380 “Flying Honu” themed flight in Business Class. Throughout the video, I also looked into other unique features on this ANA flight including ANA Couchii, economy class and premium economy. In next video, I will review ANA A380 First Class from Honolulu to Tokyo.
See my other videos on the ANA A380 Flying Honu:
ANA A380 Delivery ceremony:
ANA A380 Cabin Tour:
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On 24th May 2019, following on from my video exploring the delivery of All Nippon Airway’s first, brand new Airbus A380 Flying Honu aeroplane, decorated in a spectacular, lively and bright blue sea turtle themed livery, I took the A380 Flying Honu’s first ever, inaugural flight from Narita International Airport, close to Tokyo, Japan in the Chiba district to Honolulu, Hawaii in the United States in ANA business class.
It was a very enjoyable flight and experience and even before I boarded, I had the honour of witnessing the ceremony to mark the inaugural flight of the Flying Honu with music, dancing and a set of very cute, life-sized plush turtles, each one representing one of the blue, green and orange ANA Flying Honu liveries – look out for these guys later in the video, as they feature in what has to be the world’s cutest pre-flight safety video you’ve ever seen!
Before flying, I meet the designer of the blue, sea turtle aeroplane livery and I also meet Yuji Hirako, the CEO and president of ANA, who gives out free gifts to myself and all the passengers, including a special fold up bag and fun, souvenir Honu ANA Hawaii t-shirts!
On board, I have the opportunity to examine the on-board facilities and service. The aeroplane is very geared towards looking after families with young children. Its Couchii section in economy class provides an area for young families where children can lounge and lie across multiple seats – groups of four seats have cushions which, when lifted up, form one long seat to lounge back on as if you were in business class! It’s great for young children to be able to take a nap when they need it and it promotes a more relaxed atmosphere for young families, with children who may find it hard to be restricted to a single seat for the whole flight, especially on a long haul flight from Japan to the United States like this one.
The child friendly facilities don’t end there – I take the chance to assess the nappy changing room on board, which has been designed with baby’s needs in mind from start to finish, and I also look at the dedicated baby food and even baby cutlery provided on board – All Nippon Airways new flying Honu is definitely an aeroplane that you can trust to get you and your children from A to B in comfort and in an environment which is a home from home.
The inaugural flight of the flying Honu is the perfect time for me to check out the on-board catering. I go for the Japanese option which consists of a large number of smaller items including beef, fish, other seafood, rice and fruit – the appetiser, the starter (soup), the main meal and the dessert are all served together on one tray so that you can eat it at your leisure – the service was a little slow, but I’m sure this will improve in time; the quality of the food, however, was excellent.
I have a lie down after my meal – the sleeping arrangements in business class consist of a long bed with plenty of room; just watch that you don’t get your feet stuck!
Throughout the video, I have the chance to discuss this special, maiden flight of the ANA Flying Honu with fellow aviation enthusiasts and people who people who live and breathe the Airbus A380. It’s great to hear other people’s opinions on this maiden flight and I want to hear your opinion too – let me know what you thought of the whole experience down in the comments section below and, as always, thanks for watching!
AloJapan.com