JAL confirms new 787-9 business class suites

Japan Airlines is upgrading its Boeing 787-9 jets to the same high-level business class as its flagship Airbus A350-1000s, a senior JAL executive has told Executive Traveller.

These spacious doored suites will first appear on 11 existing 787-9s, as well as ten factory-fresh Dreamliners due from 2028 to 2031.

Predictably, they’ll also be seen on the 20-strong A350-900 fleet due from 2027-2028, which will tackle international routes to complement JAL’s 17 domestic A350s.

With another ten 787-9s being transferred to JAL’s low-cost arm Zipair starting from 2027, the move will let the Japanese flag-carrier standardise on a single high-end business class seat for its premium international routes.

JAL's A350-1000 business class is coming to the Boeing 787-9.

JAL’s new 787-9 business class

“The (787-9) interiors will be similar to our 350-1000s, which we now have flying to New York and London,” Ross Legget, JAL’s Senior Vice President for Route Marketing, told Executive Traveller on the sidelines of a media event in Honolulu marking Hawaiian Airlines’ entry into the Oneworld alliance.

“The 787s will have a similar product, not (100%) identical, but it’ll still be the doored suite concept.”

JAL's A350-1000 business class is coming to the Boeing 787-9.

While Legget would not reveal the exact provenance of JAL’s new 787-9 business class, Executive Traveller understands it will be the same Safran Unity platform as appears on the A350-1000s. Riyadh Air is already flying a customised 787 version of this seat.

JAL's A350-1000 business class is coming to the Boeing 787-9.

The A350-1000 experience will be replicated right down to the high-tech miniature speakers built into the headrests.

JAL's new 787-9 will include these 'surround-sound' headrest speakers.

These faithfully reproduce audio from the inflight entertainment system without the need for headphones, but are also ingeniously designed to prevent annoying sound leakage beyond the suite’s 1.3m (52”) walls.

However, it’s not known if the in-suite personal wardrobe of JAL’s A350-1000 business class will make it into the Boeing 787-9, due to the Dreamliner’s slightly narrower cabin.

Will there be room for the in-suite wardrobe on JAL's 787-9?

On the other hand, the A350-900s are set for “exactly the same product” as the larger -1000s.

Faster Wi-Fi on the way

Also on the cards is superfast Wi-Fi, with Boeing saying its refit of JAL’s 787-9s will see the addition of “connectivity modifications” suitable for low-Earth orbit constellations such as Starlink.

JAL sibling Zipair already sports Starlink on all eight of its Dreamliners, but this doesn’t mean JAL itself is joining the Starlink parade.

Legget said the 787-9’s will be “continuing to use the same provider we have at the moment,” which is a higher-orbit but slower Panasonic Ku-band system.

That said, Panasonic and partner SES – formerly Intelsat – offer a hybrid ‘multi-orbit’ system which taps into the capacity for high, medium and low Earth orbit satellites, which JAL has contracted for its A350-900s and Boeing 787-9s.

International demand remains strong

This premium-forward play of the A350s and 787s will bolster JAL’s continued growth on longer international routes.

“International is very strong for us at the moment, it’s by far our biggest generator of revenue,” Legget reflects, “especially trans-Pacific routes, and then European routes as well.”

JAL will standardise on business suites across its international A350 and 787-9 fleet.

“Where we’re struggling would probably be the closer international routes, within a two- to three-hour radius – to China, Korea, Taiwan – because LCCs (low-cost carriers) have become a lot stronger in that market.”

“So that’s where we differentiate... we have our own subsidiary airlines which are LCCs, like Zipair and Spring, and we keep the premium product on JAL.”

Also read: Thai Airways’ new 777, 787-10 business class revealed

David Flynn travelled to Honolulu as a guest of Hawaiian Airlines and Oneworld.