JAL’s First Airbus A350-1000 Departs from Toulouse, Expected to Arrive at Haneda in the Morning of the 15th

Japan Airlines (JAL) has departed with its first Airbus A350-1000, registration code JA01WJ, from the Airbus Delivery Center in Toulouse, France, on the afternoon of December 14th local time. This aircraft is scheduled to begin operations on January 24, 2024, as the new flagship for international routes, replacing the current Boeing 777-300ER introduced in July 2004.

The Airbus A350-1000 is a stretched version of the A350 series, with a length of 73.8 meters, which is about 7 meters longer than the A350-900 operated on domestic routes. While the first A350-900, registration code JA01XJ, was decorated with a special ‘Challenge Red’ livery, the first A350-1000 was handed over to JAL in a standard livery on December 11.

A commemorative ceremony was held at the Airbus Delivery Center on the morning of December 12th local time, where Jun Yamanaka, JAL’s Director of Technology and Quality Assurance in Europe, and Benoit de Saint Exupery, Airbus Vice President of Contracts, signed the contract documents.

The ferry flight JL8102 left Toulouse at 1:12 PM local time on the 14th. It took off at 1:46 PM, waving its wings left and right in a farewell to Toulouse and is expected to arrive at Haneda Airport at 10:15 PM Japan time on the 15th.

Initially, the aircraft will be operated on the Tokyo/Haneda to New York route on alternate days. The second and third aircraft are also expected to arrive in Japan within the fiscal year, with daily operations on the same route after the introduction of the second aircraft. Following the receipt of the third, operations will expand to include the Tokyo/Haneda to Dallas/Fort Worth route.

JAL has ordered 13 of the Airbus A350-1000 models. The debut was initially scheduled for late November but was delayed due to production setbacks caused by supply chain disruptions.

The cabin configuration includes 6 First Class seats, 54 Business Class seats, 24 Premium Economy seats, and 155 Economy seats, totaling 239 seats. Compared to the 777-300ER, there are 5 more Business Class and 8 more Economy seats, while First Class has 2 fewer and Premium Economy 16 fewer seats. Emphasizing privacy, the First and Business Class are JAL’s first private compartment types with doors.

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