A very early good morning to you all! It's like 5:30 in the morning I'm just heading
my way to the bus station to grab a bus to Osaka Itami airport. Today we'll be flying
back to Tokyo using J - Air. J - Air is Japan Airlines' regional carrier and their premise
is to connect smaller communities smaller cities in the country without having passengers
connect through Tokyo. However, there was one flight every day from Osaka to Tokyo and
I say was because after November 1st, 2021 Japan Airlines is going to take over this
flight and I believe they're going to use the Dreamliner for this flight from then on.
Right now it's October 30th so this this is the second last J - Air flight to Tokyo that
I know of so yeah let's uh continue our way to the bus station, let's grab a coffee because
it's way too early and yeah let's see what J - Air is all about as we go from A to B
:)
I made my way to uehonmachi station. This is the same station where I jumped on that
memorable Hinotori Limited Express a few months earlier. Being about 5:45 am, the station
was as dead as Pokémon cards as train service had yet to commence for the day. If you book
a very early flight then you're going to have to bus it such as I did this day. There are
a handful of bus stops around the city and the earliest bus will make sure you get to
the airport with enough time for your flight. With this particular station I had no idea
how far they put the bus stop for the airport limousine bus. The boarding already started
by the time I reached it. You can either buy a ticket at the kiosk or if you're fashionably
late much like myself you can just use a transit card on board.
The bus costs 650 yen and takes about 30 minutes to reach the airport. Japan Airlines uses
the north terminal for check-in and was fairly lively this morning, but with no bags to check
in I just made my way upstairs and through security. This was the first time I've been
to the north terminal as I didn't get a chance to cover it in my airport adventures episode
of ITM. It definitely felt larger than the south side with a few more outlets which are
ideal for the early morning.
At the end of the food court is Japan Airlines diamond premium and sakura lounge. No lounge
for me today though my attention was stolen by this takoyaki in okonomiyaki in a can.
I didn't end up picking any up I really didn't have the time to spare but next time though.
(and I did!)
My little Embraer was waiting at gate 18 and I arrived to the gate pretty much as boarding
started. One thing I really enjoy in Japan is the speed and efficiency of the airports.
With my JMB card I don't need a paper ticket or even a QR code on the phone. I can simply
tap my car through the airport, quick and easy.
As I jump on board you'll see the small class J at the front. If you choose to fly this
class aim for seats 1 through 5 Aa for those single seats on the left side of the aircraft.
J - Air's fleet consists of both the Embraer 190 and 170. Only the 190 has a two-class
configuration with those 15 class J seats at the front. The regional jets have 80 seats
in economy and two lavatories one on either side of the aircraft. This particular aircraft
isn't too old being delivered to J - Air on ...hey would you look at that.. 4/20 in 2016...
all right! I'm sure countless around the world celebrated this delivery that day.
The
economy cabin is in a 2-2 layout and coming off that Q400 flight a few days earlier the
difference in size between the two regional jets is apparent. I was surprised how roomy
the cabin was. The overhead bin had no problem accommodating my 30 litre backpack and if
you fly class J you'll notice a larger bin on the right side due to the aisle being off
centre. The seats are black with the maroon stitching and seat belt, plush and comfortable.
After flying many airlines in Japan I've really come to enjoy the choice of seats Japan Airlines
group decided for their fleet. Below the seat you'll find one outlet and of course there's
a reading light and air control.
Seat back is simple with the table and pocket beneath. With about a 31 inch seat pitch there's
a fair amount of leg space below. As always I invite you to subscribe and to follow me
on twitter where I post when I'm on the go:) These Embraer's are not equipped with wi-fi
but in-flight entertainment is streamed. Be sure to download the Japan Airline app to
easily access it. It was quick and responsive. They actually have a nice selection especially
in the sitcom department which I took full advantage of. And there's the Japan Airlines
inflate Skyward magazine to flip through too. Being early morning I opted for a coffee from
the drink service. I picked up a little chocolate bun at a nice shop in Kumamoto a few days
earlier to accompany the coffee so I had a nice little breakfast while watching some
Big Bang Theory all while cruising off the coast passing mount Fuji. Does breakfast get
any better than this? (probably, but this isn't bad!)
You know these morning flights are quite pleasant especially when you have outstanding weather.
Taking these regional jets are a nice change from their larger counterparts. Their smaller
size means the boarding deep playing is much quicker and if you were to have a tight connection
this could save you valuable time.
The cost for this quick flight was 10,800 yen or 74% of a shinkansen ticket.
All right so that's the J - Air regional flight. Overall it's a great quick flight I love the
views of the morning as the sun's rising gets some fantastic views when the weather's nice
of the country below and I get to watch an episode of Big Bang Theory so I was very pleased
with this flight very happy with it let me know what you thought about j air and yeah
thanks for watching and I'll see you around next time