Japan’s First ‘Fully Flat Seat’ Highway Bus Fully Booked in 5 Minutes

Kochi Ekimae Kanko has announced that their first bus featuring Japan’s first “fully flat seat” was fully booked just 5 minutes after tickets went on sale.

The night bus “Smile Liner” on the Kochi-Tokyo line will introduce the two-level fully flat seat “Sommeil Profond”, with test operations starting from March 4th with one round trip a week. The seats are designed and manufactured by a company in Kochi Prefecture, and the feedback from these test operations will be used to make improvements for full-scale operations.

During the test operation period, reservations are limited to tickets purchased through the Hak4noshima reservation system, with a special one-way fare of 7,300 yen. Typically, three-row independent seats on this route sell for around 9,000 yen, making these fares lower. March trips are also fully booked, and reservations for April services will begin on March 1st.

Akitoshi Umehara, president and CEO of Kochi Ekimae Kanko, commented, “We are extremely grateful and surprised by the level of interest shown by so many people. I imagine we will receive even more feedback once the actual test operations begin. We envision ‘Sommeil Profond’ as seats that grow alongside the aspirations of our passengers. We hope everyone will watch over the growth of ‘Sommeil Profond’.”

Ryuichi Narishige, representative of the Highway Bus Marketing Institute, emphasized that “It is important to address both the operational issues, such as passenger comfort and boarding/disembarking times, to promote widespread use among other bus operators.” He also pointed out the need for creative presentation on reservation sites.