REVIEW | All Nippon Airways (ANA), Business Class, Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner to Tokyo

Autumn 2025. We – Sam and Danny, Michel and Wille, and Timothy – are travelling to Japan for a quite classic tour of the Land of the Rising Sun. We are flying separately as we used miles. On the planning: Tokyo, Kanazawa, Shirakawa, Osaka, and Expo 2025, Hiroshima, Himeji, Miyajima, Kyoto, Nara, Nagoya, Hakone, and back to Tokyo. Three weeks plus some extra days.

Prior to the group trip, I – Timothy – am solo in Tokyo. Using artificial intelligence, I concocted a busy four days featuring Ito on the Izu Peninsula and Sawara, also known as Little Edo. I also end this Journey Across Japan with a solo spell in Minato, near Taito and Tamachi Station.

Flying using miles from the Miles & More programme, I found a place in business class with ANA, All Nippon Airways. I never flew with them. I thought it was appropriate and Philippe was enthusiastic about his ANA flight in 2023.

All Nippon Airways (ANA), flight NH208 on Thursday 25 September 2025.
Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP) to Tokyo International Airport, aka Haneda Airport.
Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner (JA892A).
Scheduled: 11:20 AM CET to 7:20 AM JST the next day.
Reality: 11:50 AM CET to 7:05 AM JST the next day.

Blue dominates the cabin colour palette, next to the off-white of course. I sat in seat 3A. Every seat in business class has direct aisle access. 3A offered me a window seat. 2A and 4A for instance, have the console in between the seat proper and the window.

Welcoming me is a headset, the amenity kit, slippers, a blanket, a pillow and a mattress ‘thing’. Is that a comforter? An extra layer between my flat bum, my 44-year-old back and the seat. A seat which is very firm indeed.I do like firm, but this is fírm with an accent to stress it.

I’d say this business seat is pretty standard. Big screen, big and sturdy table. A large console. No real storage space though, besides overhead. I miss some store space. I like to unpack what I need before I sit. What do I need? Cables and chargers.

The seat goes fully flat. It’s a bit narrow, but it will be fine.

Food and drinks

ANA being Japanese, it offers Japanese options and Western options for the meal. I preordered my Japanese meal.

Food and drinks service with preflight drinks: champagne or orange juice. Since drinking in the air results in headaches for me, I chose orange juice.

A little while after take-off, another drink – I chose ‘ANA’s Original Drink Aromatic Kabosu (Citrus)‘, which contains honey. I also got some bruschetta and vitello tonato (tuna’d veal).

Intermezzo: amenity kit

While I waited for my first course, I opened the amenity kit. It is presented by Ettinger, from London. I had never heard of that brand. It’s a brand in leather goods. Thee kit contained no leather.

It did contain a toothbrush with toothpaste, ear plugs, an eye mask, some creamy and lotiony products, and an ANA-branded shopping bag. That’s a nice touch, as one is told to have a shopping bag in your bag in Japan.

The main meal

Time for the main meal. Japanese foods including shrimp, mackerel, fish eggs, meat and vegetables. I like how it’s presented on a tray. It tastes really nice and a nice introduction to my Journey Across Japan.

The same can be said of the main course. It included rice, egg, meat, miso and vegetables.

As dessert, I chose tiramisu.

In-flight entertainment and sleep

As it’s now the standard, the in-flight entertainment is massive. Being a Star Alliance company, ANA offered quite a few similar films and shows than Lufthansa to Denver. That review will be published later.

I didn’t find the IFE particularly intuitive to navigate, but also not annoying. I watched ‘John Wick‘, after which it was time to sleep.

As a bed, the seat is still firm. The cabin was warm at first, but it cooled down during the ‘night’. I slept all in all a couple of hours.

Second meal: breakfast (?)

During the night, you can get snacks but I didn’t.

The second meal could be called breakfast. I chose Japanese again. Salmon, rice, vegetable, soup, … For our Western pallet, that doesn’t sound very breakfast-like. I’m fine with that.

Overall, the food was great. The service was perhaps on the slow side but so friendly. Crew members introduced themselves and explained what was served.