Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) has taken delivery of its first A380 at a special ceremony in Toulouse, becoming the 15th operator of the world’s largest passenger aircraft. The delivery ceremony was attended by ANA HOLDINGS President and CEO Shinya Katanozaka and hosted by Airbus CEO Tom Enders. ANA will operate the aircraft on the popular leisure Narita-Honolulu route from May 24th.
Video of the First ANA A380 "Flying Honu"
“We will commit all three of our Airbus A380 to the Tokyo Honolulu route with the goal of introducing a new level of luxury service to our passengers flying ANA on the number one resort route for Japanese travelers,”said Shinya Katanozaka, President and CEO of ANA HOLDINGS INC. “We believe the A380 will become a game changer for ANA and will enable us to increase our market share by doubling the number of seats connecting Honolulu and Tokyo by 2020,” he added. “The FLYING HONU is designed to offer unprecedented comfort and convenience and a world of new possibilities to ANA passengers.
ANA has selected special Hawaiian themed liveries for its three A380s, symbolizing the sky, ocean and sunset. ANA's first Airbus A380 sports bold Hawaiian Sky Blue Flying Honu-inspired livery.
The second A380 plane will boast Hawaiian Ocean Emerald Green livery and is expected to roll out of the Airbus Paintshop in Hamburg on March 25, 2019.
The aircraft, MSN 262, registration JA381A, is the first of three Rolls-Royce Trent 900 powered A380s
The ANA A380 livery is one of the most elaborate ever painted by Airbus. It took 21 days for the Airbus team to paint a surface of 3,600m2 using 16 different shades of color.
More photos of the delivery event by photographer Dirk Grothe can be viewed below:
The aircraft is set to fly from Japan to Hawaii 3x a week starting on May 24, 2019 with service on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The service will increase 10x weekly as of July 1, 2019 when the second A380 enters service.
The aircraft will feature four cabins with five different seating options spread out in the following configuration:
| Cabin | Number of Seats |
| First | 8 |
| Business | 56 |
| Premium Economy | 73 |
| Economy | 383 |
| Total | 520 |
The 5th seating style comes in the form of what ANA is calling COUCHii. These seats feature an extendable leg rests that convert the seats into a "bed". COUCHii passengers will also receive a dedicated bed sheet, pillow and blanket set amenities.
All passengers will have access to some form of onboard bar and the plane will also feature a "multi-purpose room where new mothers will be able to tend to their babies and passengers will be able to change before arriving at their destination."
First Class
The first class suites look like a modernized version of the existing ANA suite found aboard all 777 products aircraft which are essentially composed of a lay-z-boy in a cubicle and will feature a massive 32" personal TV. The suites will also include sliding doors.
Business class
All business class seats will offer direct aisle access, are fully flat and feature 18" Entertainment screens.
Premium Economy
All premium economy seats will feature a 38" pitch and most seats will have a 15.6" entertainment screen. The tray tables will also swivel 90 degrees so customers can still maneuver even when the tray table is open.
Economy and ANA COUCHii
All seats will feature 34" pitch and 13.3" entertainment monitors. Each seat comes with power and USB outlets as well. COUCHii seats will only have 32" of pitch.
Hawaii Service Upgrades
On top of the new plane, ANA has plans for a special A380 lounge at Honolulu airport featuring separate entrances for premium passengers that connect directly to the upper deck of the aircraft, which will bypass the terminal completely. Other special features include a unique turtle livery for all 3 aircraft, referred to as Honu, and customized food and beverage in each cabin.
ANA has noted that First Class passengers will be dining on food from Michelin Start Restaurant, Noe at the Four Seasons Resort Oahu. Economy Class passengers will not be left behind on the gastronomic delights as they have a menu designed by Australian Celebrity Chef Bill Granger, famous for his amazing ricotta pancakes. All passengers will also have an “exclusive blue Hawaii cocktail” too.
Amenity Kits are on the specialty item list as well with business class kits designed by Fred Segal and First class amenity kits from Globe Trotter, which is an English luggage manufacturer.
During the press conference, ANA confirmed they will release more award redemption seats on their Hawaii A380 flights. If you want to use United miles to redeem for free flights on this route expect to pay between 27,500 miles for a one-way economy award up to 55,000 miles for a Business Class award. Virgin Atlantic frequent flyer program has a sweet spot for flights on ANA and looks like this route should only cost 90,000 miles for a first class round trip ticket. One way First Class on Avianca Life Miles cost 66,000 lifemiles.