Until now, if you want to redeem a JAL international award ticket through the internet, you will have to do so at least 7 days before your departure date. After that, you won't be able to search for availability of your flight. JAL has now upgraded its website to allow award redemption up to 4 days before departure date. The cut-off time will be at noon instead of 23:59 though.

Japan Airlines (JAL) will be introducing User-Preferred-Routes (UPR) on its Tokyo Narita (NRT) - Vancouver (YVR) route from December 19 2011. NRT-YVR will be the third destination country in JAL networks to take advantage of UPR after Japan - Honolulu and Tokyo Narita - Australia switching to UPR in August 2008 and June 2009 respectively. JAL estimates that this can save them a total of 220,000 lbs of fuel and therefore reducing approximately 315 tons of carbon dioxide gas emission a year

JAL 787 in new livery (Source: Boeing)

Boeing has issued a press release in Japanese with a picture of the first Boeing 787 to be delivered to Japan Airlines (JAL). They have just finished repainting the plane to JAL's new livery on Dec 13. This is just in time for JAL's special "delivery" tour. But unfortunately delivery date has slipped once again to Feb 2012.

Once again, Japan Airlines (JAL) has expectedly announced that they will keep the current level of fuel surcharge on international tickets issued between February and March 2012. The 2-month jet fuel average is once again in the USD120-130 range and therefore zone G of the fuel surcharge table will be used. For more details of the upcoming fuel surcharge, you can refer to JAL press release (Japanese, English).

Japan Airlines (JAL) and Canada's WestJet (WS) will begin codesharing from December 15 2012. This will improve connectivity of JAL's Tokyo Narita (NRT) - Vancouver (YVR) flights as currently JAL does not have a domestic codesharing partner in Canada. As a result, JAL will add 4 more Canadian cities, Calgary, Edmonton, Kelowna and Winnipeg, to JAL's network. Reservations will begin on December 14 2012. Below are the schedules of the codesharing flights.

For those traveling on Japan Airlines (JAL) flights to Guam (GUM), JAL has announced a new discounted upgrade campaign that might be useful to you. A roundtrip upgrade from economy to business class will now cost 10,000 JMB miles instead of 20,000 JMB miles.

Japan Airlines (JAL) has announced planned changes in the JAL Mileage Bank (JMB) FLY ON Program. Specifically, the JMB elite qualification requirements will change from January 2012. JAL has added number of FOPs/sectors earned on JAL Group flights as extra requirements. And also a bit of more sad news is that the upgrade points program will be discontinued after this year. But if you pay attention to the explanation, this might mean a new lie-flat business class seat will finally come in 2 years or so.

JAL 787 routes

[Update: Added confirmation for Japanese only offering at launch]


Japan Airline finally announced more Boeing 787 routes. Other than the Narita-Boston routes, JAL has added three more routes including Tokyo Haneda - Beijing, Tokyo Narita - Delhi, and Tokyo Narita - Moscow.

New JAL 787 wallpapers on JAL website

Japan Airlines (JAL) promised us a mid-November 787 update but they didn't update their site until now. And disappointingly, the update was just a facelift of their 787 special page and 3 new wallpapers with 787 in JAL's current livery (oh well there's a 787 specification page with JAL livery too). But that's pretty much all the updates we get for now. JAL says the next update is early December (and we are in early December right now). We should hear more since the special delivery trip is only about a week away (departs on December 14)

JAL SHELL FLAT NEO seats (Source: JAL website)

Until now, Japan Airlines (JAL) has not indicated which business class seat will be used on its 787 flight to Boston (BOS). When you try to did a dummy booking of JAL website, it did not show the class and inflight entertainment system in the business class cabin (but MAGIC-V was shown in economy class one). But JAL has recently updated the website to show both the seat and IFE.

JAL Original Air Nikuman (Special Pork Bun) served during winter (Source: JAL Press Release)

In order to bring passengers a sense of winter onboard, Japan Airlines (JAL) will start serving the JAL Original Air Nikuman, a special pork bun, onboard on select long-haul flights departing from Tokyo this winter between December 1 2011 and February 29 2012. This is to replace the current Air Mos Burger on the menu in Premium Economy and Economy classes.

This December marks the 4th anniversary of Japan Airlines (JAL) Domestic First Class. Every year, JAL celebrates the domestic F anniversary with some campaigns and this year is no different. JAL will start collaborating with the Imperial Hotel this time to create some special dishes for you to enjoy.

Enhanced JAL award calendar search

[Update: English version of the enhanced calendar search is finally available]

Japan Airlines (JAL) has just rolled out a new JAL Mileage Bank (JMB) award calendar search tool. Now you can search for awards in a calendar format for up to 330 days for international awards and 2 months for domestic awards! And it will display award availabilities on all flights from your airport! Before this enhancement, you could only search for international award using the calendar search features up to 180 days and 1 city at a time. Unfortunately, it is only available in Japanese right now. But even if you are only using the English version of JMB website, you also get an enhancing which allows you to use the calendar search for up to 330 days now :D. In case you are and adventurist and want to try out the Japanese version, below are the instructions for domestic and international calendar search.

It's this time of the year again for Japan Airlines (JAL) to do maintenance work on its 777-300ER fleet with JAL Suites and Shell Flat NEO seats. And as usual, they will swap the 777 used on Tokyo Narita (NRT) - Jakarta (CGK) to the one with previous generation of First and Business class products, JAL Sky Sleeper Solo and JAL Shell Flat seats. Below is the period which JL725 and JL726 will be operated with W73 configuration

JAL's first 787 returned to Everette finish up the remaining work before delivery (Source: Boeing)

Back in March, Boeing has flown Airplane #23, Japan Airlines' (JAL) first 787 (JA822J), from Everette to San Antonio to activate the San Antonia 787 production line. After 8 months of modifications, JA822J has finally returned back to Everette on Nov 13 to undergo the final stage of production.

For some people, it has always been a hassle to calculate for the exact FLY ON Points (FOPs) you will get when you plan for a mileage run with JAL Mileage Bank (JMB) as JAL did not have a FOP calculator on its website. I use a excel spreadsheet for my FOP calculations and sometimes the results could be off by 1 if it's a new route that I have never flown on before. But all these have changed! Finally JAL has published an official FOP calculator for BOTH Japan region and non-Japan region JMB members in BOTH Japanese and English! :D

JAL Tokyo-Boston 787 route connection options

[Update 2: JAL has put both the Japanese and English pages back up to their site] By now you should know that Japan Airlines (JAL) will be launching the first ever scheduled direct flight between Boston (BOS) and Tokyo Narita (NRT) with their brand new 787s on April 22 2012. They have just added announced their intention to work with Jet Blue Airways (B6) to provide better connections of their BOS flight. As usual, the JAL fares including B6 segments are still pending for approvals.

JAL 787 Special Delivery Tour at Seattle Boeing Factory (Source: JAL website)

Japan Airlines (JAL) has updated its 787 website with the following three new important piece of information regarding their 787.


1. When to expect an update on JAL 787
2. Tokyo Narita (NRT) - Boston (BOS) ticket sale details
3. JAL Special 787 Delivery Tour at Boeing Factory in Seattle

As you know, Bangkok tourism has been hit pretty hard by the recent flooding and air travel demand has remains weak to Bangkok. To adjust to the falling demand, Japan Airlines (JAL) announced they will temporarily reduce the frequency of flights between Osaka Kansai (KIX) and Bangkok (BKK).

Japan Airlines San Francisco - Tokyo Haneda 1st anniversary commemorative gifts

Time flies and it has been a year since Japan Airlines (JAL) resumed their first international route: Tokyo Haneda (HND) -San Francisco (SFO). To celebrate its 1st anniversary, JAL has launched a special campaign just for the passengers who fly on the SFO route (JL001/002). Passengers in business and premium economy classes will receive a JAL Original Leather Luggage Tag made by TUMI and those in economy class will receive a JAL original keyholder as shown in the picture above! Excited? Here's how you get these special gifts.

JAL Kaibutsu-kun (Mr Monster) Jet (Source: JAL website)

Japan Airlines (JAL) has once again cooperate with an animate to promote an upcoming animate movie, Kaibutsu-kun (Mr Monster). JAL has printed the main character Kaibutsu-kun (Mr Monster) played by no one other than Satishi Ohno from our favorite Japanese boy band Arashi (yea obviously right :p) on one of its Boeing 777-200 body (registration JA8985). The giant 17m x 5.7m decal is located at the aft section of the fuselage just like the one on the 2011 Arashi Jets.

Japan Airlines (JAL) has launched a Hilton Premium Club Japan campaign for the JAL Global Club (JGC) members and the JAL Mileage Bank (JMB) FLY ON status members, aka elites. The first year annual fee of 25,000 JPY will be waived if you join the Hilton Premium Club during the campaign period. You will be able to enjoy the club benefits at the 9 participating hotels in Japan. Below are the campaign details.

Entrance of JAL lounges at Tokyo Haneda International Terminal

Inflight meal served on JAL flight to San Francisco in 1954. Image from Japan Airlines Facebook page

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Tokyo International Airport, aka Haneda. Japan Airlines (JAL) has recreated the inflight meal on served on their first international flight to San Francisco during the Sky Day Festival 2011 on October 21 2011.

Japan Airlines (JAL) has made some changes to its Honolulu (HNL) flights between November 18 and 14 2011. JL073/074 (NRT-HNL) are no longer shown on the schedule on certain dates and the other two Narita flights are upgraded to 777-200ER and 777-300ER service while the Haneda flight sees a downgrade from 777-200ER to 767-300ER. Also, JAL is offering First Class service on JL071/072 on selected dates and the F cabin is quite full on those dates too! Below is the schedule between November 8 and 14.

[Update: Flights are now on sale. Configuration info added]


Japan Airlines (JAL) just sent out an advance notice of their extra Honolulu (HNL)-Tokyo Narita (NRT) flight schedules during year end holiday and other peak travel days. These flights will be available for sale and award redemption. JAL FLY ON members (aka elites) are given advanced noticed of this and exactly when the awards will be opened up. Below is the schedule of the extra flights.

Looks like Japan Airlines (JAL) is also having the double miles campaign on its Japan-Asia flights just like American Airlines (AA) does. You will earn 2 times the flight miles if you travel on eligible classes on JAL and AA flights between Japan and Asia. Registration prior to your flight is required.

Japan Airlines (JAL) and LAN Airlines (LAN) will start codesharing from October 20 2011. JAL will be placing its JL code on LAN's flights between Santiago, Los Angeles and New York. Below are the codeshare flight schedules operated by LAN.

Good day to live in Vancouver today, Japan Airlines (JAL) has yet another campaign targeted for the Vancouver route (well probably because it is under performing even after downsizing it from 777 to 767 earlier in March). JAL is running a Super Discount Award Ticket Campaign for its Tokyo Haneda (HND) - San Francisco (SFO) and Tokyo Narita (NRT) - Vancouver (YVR) routes between November 1 2011 and February 29 2012. You can save up to 30,000 JMB miles if you redeem an award ticket on these routes and fly during the campaign period. Below are more details.

Japan Airlines (JAL) is running a double miles promotion on its Tokyo - Vancouver route. You are eligible for double miles as long as you register for the campaign before your flight and are booked in eligible booking classes. This campaign runs from November 1 2011 till February 29 2012. Below are the details

As expected, Japan Airlines (JAL) is maintaining its current level of fuel surcharge as the 2 month jet fuel average is still in the USD120-130 range. Therefore, the oneway surcharge on a long-haul flight will remain at USD288. But thanks to the standardization of fuel surcharge calculation JAL rolled out in October 2011, the surcharge could be quite a bit lower compared to the previous peak. JAL will announce the next fuel surcharge revision in December 2011 for the Feb-Mar 2012 period. For more details of this surcharge revision, you can refer to JAL press release (Japanese, English)

JAL Eco Jet "Nature" livery (Source: JAL Press Release)

As some of you might already know this, Japan Airlines (JAL) is in the progress of repainting its fleet with the new livery after the logo change. There were speculations and ideas throwing around on how JAL will repaint its original JAL Eco Jet which features a green Arc of The Sun livery. JAL finally officially reveals the new JAL Eco Jet livery and they called it JAL Eco Jet "Nature" and unfortunately there's no green crane logo on the tail as some of you might have hoped for :p

Japan Airlines (JAL) has announced yet another campaign target specifically for the Japan region members. JAL Mileage Bank (JMB) members registered in Japan are eligible for bonus miles when they travel on selected Cathay Pacific Airways (CX) flights between November 1 2011 and December 15 2011. 3,000 and 1,500 bonus JMB miles will be awarded to registered premium and economy class passengers respectively. Below are the details.

[Update 2: JAL has yet made another slight modification to the seat map. For the latest version of the economy class seat map, please refer to this post]
[Update: JAL has updated the booking engine to show the type of business class product used on 787. Details can be found on the latest post] Japan Airlines (JAL) has updated their 787 longhaul seat map. Until recently, JAL has been using the A43 configuration on 767-300ER as the place holder (well A43 minus the lavatories and galleys). The newly updated seat map reflects a bigger business class cabin and a 2-4-2 configuration in economy class instead of 2-3-2. Below are the detail seat map.

JAL x Unchi Cafe SWEETS (Source: JAL Press Release)

In response to passengers' request for premium chocolates in premium economy class, Japan Airlines (JAL) has collaborated with LAWSON to offer LAWSON's original chocolate snack "Uchi Cafe SWEETS" on 7 of JAL's international routes from Oct 1 2011 to Feb 29 2012.

JAL and China Eastern China-Japan network (Source: JAL Press Release)

Japan Airlines (JAL) and China Eastern Airlines (MU) will expand their existing codesharing agreement from October 8 2011 to cover ALL of their flights between China and Japan. This will add Yantai to JAL's Japan-China network, and add Shizuoka, Okayama and Nagasaki on the Japan side. JAL and MU together operates 386 weekly flights on 42 routes between China and Japan. Reservations and sales of the newly added codeshare flights will start on September 27 2011. Below are the schedule of the new codeshare flights.

How does JAL Inflight Internet Service by eXConnect work? (Picture Source: JAL Press Release)

Japan Airlines (JAL) has just announced its plan to offer high-speed internet connection through Wi-Fi on its international flights from mid-2012. JAL has picked the the "eXConnect" technology from Panasonic Avionics, which is a satellite based technology.

Japan Airlines (JAL) has announced the Fuji Dream Airlines (FDA) codeshare flight schedules for October 30 2011 till March 24 2012. They have added a new Fukuoka (FUK) - Niigata (KIJ) route to the winter schedule. Below is the full FDA codeshare schedule. All flights are operated by FDA.

Japan Airlines (JAL) has changed the JMB miles accrual chart for Air France (AF) flights from September 1 2011. This is due to fare realignment on the AF side. Below are the new and old charts for comparison

Japan Airlines (JAL) has rolled out yet another upgrade discount campaign on flight to Korean, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Guam. This time lower booking classes are eligible (not just Y and W). You can redeem a roundtrip upgrade award on these routes with just 10,000 JMB miles! Below are the details no this discounted upgrade award campaign.

Japan Airlines (JAL) will finally standardize the way it calculates fuel surcharge for travel via Japan. In case you haven't notice, the fuel surcharge for a roundtrip ticket originating from the US to Asia, say Jakarta (CGK), is only USD670 (USD335 x 2) while the fuel surcharge on the same roundtrip ticket originating from Asia or CGK in this case will cost you USD1096 (USD548 x 2) because JAL is calculating your fuel surcharge as if you were on two separate roundtrip tickets: CGK-Japan (USD213) and Japan-US (USD335). For tickets originating in Europe to Asia, fuel surcharge is also calculated by adding the individual surcharge from each sector. But this will change from October 1 2011 when JAL lower their fuel surcharge at the same time.

Japan Airlines (JAL) has released the Arashi Jet 1 (JA772J) schedule between October 1 and 29 2011. Arashi Jet 1 be will flying between Tokyo Haneda, Fukuoka and Sapporo during this time. Below is the planned schedule.

Japan Airlines (JAL) has released its latest commercial for fall travel featuring the popular Japanese boy band Arashi once again. It is an "interesting" CM. I didn't know JAL's Touch & Go service is compatible with lobster :p You can watch the 30 second commercial on JAL website (Japanese only). Below are some screen captures from the latest CM.

Japan Airlines (JAL) has once again update its business class meal service starting this month. Both long haul and short haul business class menus received an update. On top of that, the full a la carte menu finally arrives on LAX route! So now all on the US flights will have the full anything and any time meal service :) Below are more details on the changes rolled out this month

Couple of days ago, Japan Airlines (JAL) has rolled out the online booking engine for oneworld Yokoso tickets (the super discounted 10,000 yen domestic ticket for visitors). Before, you will have to either go through a travel agent or through JAL reservation center. You will have to pay for the reservation fee if you choose to go through JAL. These all has changed. All you need is your itinerary with e-ticket numbers and you are set (well at least for those who want to book through JAL North America website). But since Yokoso tickets are meant for people who lived outside of Japan and JAL can't really check your country of residence online, JAL has implemented an extra step at check-in to verify your eligibility. At check-in you are required to present an official ID with you foreign address on it. Not sure how it works with IDs without address such as the HKID. But those who have been traveling on Yokoso recently has reported that this check isn't enforced right now. Not sure if that's because they booked the ticket before the roll out of online booking or the agents just aren't aware of the change. Either way, make sure you have your ID with you in case they do check. If you found ineligible for Yokoso, you will be asked to purchase a new ticket which could be expensive ;)

For more details on Yokoso online booking, you can refer to JAL website. Note that other regions haven't rolled out this online booking engine yet. I have only seen this on the North America website so far.

Air Transport Rating Agency released its airlines safety rating today and rates Japan Airlines (JAL) as the safest in Asia. And JAL is the only one that makes it to the top 10 in Asia! The rating is based on 15 criteria including accident figures, average age of the aircraft used and the homogeneity of the fleet. Honestly some of the criteria is a bit odd and they are giving 2011 rating based on 2009 data!? But a win is a win :p Congrats on JAL on job well done in keeping flight safety as their top priority :D

For the complete top 10 rating, you can visit ATRA website.

JAL CAFÉ LINES press conference. Image by Japan Airlines.

Japan Airlines (JAL) has been introducing some nice coffee on its domestic flights earlier this year. And they will finally expand the offering and introduce an exclusive line of high-quality coffee called JAL CAFE LINES on all of its flights. From September 1 2011, the JAL CAFE LINES new beverage service will be introduced in all JAL international and domestic flights.

Japan Airlines (JAL) has just announced their flight frequency plan change for the 2nd half of the current fiscal year. This time they have more increases than decrease in frequency :p Below are the changes effective October 30 2011

As expected, Japan Airlines (JAL) will lower its fuel surcharge from October 1 2011 as the two month average jet fuel price at Singapore has dropped to USD128.02. Therefore, the fuel surcharge for tickets issued between October 1 and November 30 2011 will be using zone G in the fuel surcharge table. In other words, back to May and June 2011's fuel surcharge level. For a one-way Asia-US ticket, fuel surcharge will drop from USD 335 to USD 288. So hold your tickets and wait till Oct 1 to ticket them if you can (well sometimes it's hard to do that especially if JAL kept canceling your upgrade every 5 days :p)

For more details, you can refer to JAL press release (Japanese, English)

So the third time is really a charm and the Jetstar Japan finally comes true. Japan Airlines (JAL) and Qantas (QF) announced today that they will set up a new low cost carrier (LCC), Jetstar Japan, based in Narita. Jetstar Japan will start operation by December 2012.

Today marks the 26th anniversary of Japan Airlines (JAL) flight 123 accident. It is still the world's most deadly single-aircraft accident till today. 524 passengers and crew members were killed with only 4 survivors when the 747 lost control and crashed into Ridge of Osutaka at 6:56PM. Investigation showed the accident was caused by faulty repair conducted by Boeing.

Nikkei Business Daily has reported yet another Japan Airlines (JAL) low cost carrier (LCC) rumor today. According to the paper, JAL and Jetstar will set up a new Narita (NRT) based LCC together with Mitsubishi and this new LCC will start operations by December 2012.

Japan Airlines (JAL) has rolled out an added benefits for JGC members and members with FLY ON service status. From Aug 1 2011, they will be able to enjoy extra benefits when staying at participating JW Marriott, Renaissance Hotels, and Marriott Hotels & Resorts in Asia Pacific region (Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Philippines, and Vietnam) with eligible rate plans (those eligible for JMB miles).

Japan Airlines may (JAL) seek joint venture agreement with Air France (AF) to bolster its European operations. According to the Bloomberg report, JAL will seek other JBV opportunities in Europe if the JBV with British Airways (BA) cannot cover the entire Europe.

We knew Japan Airlines (JAL) is going to has an operating profit this quarter because JAL President told the press about it last month during the monthly press conference. We just didn't know how much. And they finally reveal it today! JAL made a 12.7 billion yen net profit and 17.1 billion yen operating profit in the first quarter of fiscal year 2011! And guess what? Although All Nippon Airways (ANA), JAL's direct competitor, had a much lower drop in passenger numbers than JAL, they still saw an 8.4 billion yen loss :p Below are some highlights of the first quarter results.

(JAL Arashi Jet 2 (JA8982). Picture Source: @y3z9haisai)

Japan Airlines has launched JAL Arashi Jet 2 as planned on July 26 2011. And JAL Arashi Jet 2 is actually the same plane used as the first JAL Arashi Jet last year with registration JA8982! Both Arashi Jet 1 and Jet 2 have the same livery. The only way to distinguish them are by their registration number (JA772J vs JA8982)

Below are more links to pictures of JAL Arashi Jet 2:
riepink3104 san's album on photozou.jp

JAL will be launching JAL Arashi Jet 2 on time on July 26 2011. It could be just some miscommunication yesterday on its website. For now, looks like JAL Arashi Jet 2 won't have a fixed schedule. JAL will announce the Arashi Jet 2 schedule on a daily basis, at 18:00 JST. Detail schedule can be found on JAL website (Japanese only). Below is Arashi Jet 2's schedule for tomorrow

JAL503 HND 0730 - CTS 0910
JAL504 CTS 1000 - HND 1135
JAL315 HND 1225 - FUK 1410
JAL320 FUK 1500 - HND 1640
JAL525 HND 1730 - CTS 1905
JAL526 CTS 2000 - HND 2140

Of course, just like any other flights, JAL might make a last minute swap due to maintenance and operational reasons and can't 100% guarantee you will see Arashi on your plane.

As reported yesterday, Japan Airlines (JAL) is launching the new JAL Arashi Jet today. Below is a picture of it taking off as JAL515 from Haneda (HND) to Chitose (CTS). As you can see, the plane used as JAL Arashi Jet 1 is JA772J (probably because they have already painted this plane with the new livery :p). Please note that this is not the first flight of the Arashi Jet but that's the only photo I could find for now :)

(Picture Source: NAGA from twipple)

Below are more videos and pictures of JAL Arashi Jet 1

JAL Arashi Jet with new JAL livery. Image by Japan Airlines.

Yes, Asahi Jet is back! Japan Airlines will be bringing back the popular Arashi livery this summer. And they will be painting TWO (yes TWO!) 777-200 with this special Arashi livery. Both JAL Arashi Jets will be flying domestically between July 25 2011 (July 26 for JAL Arashi Jet 2 if it's not delayed) and Jan 2012. They will be used on HND-ITM, HND-CTS, HND-FUK, and HND-OKA routes. Below are the planned schedules for Arashi Jet 1 till end of September

Finally Japan Airlines has revealed the new design of the JAL Mileage Bank membership card featuring the new logo. They have uploaded the picture to their official facebook page and updated the image on the JMB page.

New JAL Mileage Bank membership card. Image by Japan Airlines.

Japan Airlines (JAL) will operate a bunch of charter flights to Palau throughout the year. Some of the seats on these flights will be available for JAL Mileage Bank (JMB) award redemptions. However, it has to be an roundtrip award ticket departing from Japan. You can't originate from Palau.

Reservation starts on June 9/July1/Aug 1/Sept 1 8am JST depending on your flight. it costs 40,000 miles for a Economy class roundtrip award. No waitlisting, no change, and no web check-in. Fuel surcharge is JPY 8000 (USD92) one-way. And of course you need to pay other taxes and fees too (USD 35).

Below are the flight schedules. Please note that the departure and arrival time might change due to slot availability at the airports. Schedules from November will make available later.

After increasing the international checked baggage allowance, Japan Airlines will increase its domestic flights' baggage allowance. From August 1 2011, JAL will implement the following changes on its domestic flights

15kg -> 20kg
max 3 piece -> unlimited
max 45kg -> max 32kg per piece and max combined 45kg or 100kg
no change in dimension limit
Excess baggage charge varies -> excess baggage charge 300 JPY per kg except for some short flight.

For more details, you can refer to JAL website. You can find the excess baggage charge table here.

Before this, JAL has been serving Champagne Piper Heidsieck in Business Class and Premium Economy Class. But now, JAL has updated its offering as follow:

Long Haul First Class (except Los Angeles): Champagne Salon S 1999 and Champagne Joseph Perrier Cuvee Josephine 2002
Los Angles and Jakarta First Class: Champagne Cuvée Louise Pommery Blanc 1999 and Champagne Drappier Grande Sendrée 2002
Long/Medium Haul Business Class: Champagne Delamotte Brut
Short Haul Business Class: Champagne Piper Heidsieck or Champagne Pommery Brut Royal
Premium Economy Class: Champagne Pommery Brut Royal

I don't really know much about champagne as I don't really drink them except when I fly :P So is this supposed to be an enhancement over Piper Heidsieck or this is just a cost saving measure?

JAL AIR Mos Burger. Image by Japan Airlines.

Japan Airlines has made some enhancement/changes to its inflight meals recently. One of them is a new collaboration dish with Mos Burger served in Premium Economy and Economy class called "Air Mos Burger". This is only available on flights departing from Japan to New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Frankfurt and London. Looks like this will be a full meal not just snack (because Y doesn't really serve snack like this :p)

For more info, you can visit JAL website (Premium Economy/Economy). Sorry it's in Japanese only.

[Update 3: JAL has yet made another slight modification to the seat map. For the latest version of the seat map, please refer to this post]
[Update 2: JAL has updated the 787 seat map. The seat maps shown on this page is outdated. For the slightly outdated version of the seat map, please refer to this post]
[Update: Added link to JAL NRT-BOS route page]

Japan Airlines (JAL) loaded the seat map of its 787 used on the new NRT-BOS route tonight. It has 2-2-2 configuration in Business Class cabin, and a 2-3-2 configuration in Economy Class cabin. This is just like the 763 cabin! It has a total of 237 seats (30C 207Y). In fact, if you look closer, it has the exact same configuration (minus the galley and lavatory) as the 767-300ER's A41 configuration. Below is the seat map taken from JAL website. (Please note that this is from the booking engine, not from the JAL aircraft configuration page. Therefore it could just be a placeholder until the final seat map is out as some have pointed out 7 seats per row in Y is a bit generous)

From today's NRT-BOS press release

In addition to its relationship with American, JAL has also begun discussions to strengthen its U.S. network structure with JetBlue Airways, utilizing the carrier’s hub operations in Boston to provide customers more options and smoother connections to and from major destinations in the East Coast.

Since JAL doesn't codeshare with JetBlue at the moment, this could just mean codesharing. But mileage earning on them would be nice too...but too bad this won't give your FOPs...so I guess I still have to stick with AA on domestic travel :(

JAL 787 with new livery. Image by Japan Airlines.

Japan Airlines (JAL) has just announced their plan to launch Tokyo Narita - Boston route with their brand new 787-8 on April 22 2012. This makes NRT-BOS be the first destination announced by JAL to use the state of art 787 planes. Also JAL will be the only carrier that offers direct flight between Asia and Boston!

Japan Airlines (JAL) and American Airlines (AA) released a joint promotional video to showcase their latest longhaul products. JAL segment starts at 3:51. Enjoy!

Instead of 300/600 miles per stay at Hotel JAL City/Nikko Hotels, now you will get 200-2,000 JAL Mileage Bank miles per night depending on your rate plan.

Also, you will be able to earn miles at participating hotel restaurants. 100 yen = 2 miles.

Details here (only Japanese page mentions restaurant miles):
English: http://www.jalhotels.com/jmb/reserve.html
Japanese: http://www.jalhotels.com/jp/jmb/reserve.html

Changes effective since April 1 2010

Register and fly 2 JAL flights on eligible fares and receive 500 WAON.

Campaign Period: July 1 - Sept 30 2011 (Boarding Date)

Registration Period: Till 23:59 September 30 2011 JST

Eligible Fares: Summer Advanced Purchase Fare, Super SAKITOKU Advanced Purchase Fare, JMB Companion Fare (Only companions are eligible), and Transit Fare 28.

Eligible Routes: JAL Group Airlines domestic routes, all routes of JEX, JAC, JTA, and HAC, as well as Okinawa(Naha)-Kumejima/Miyako/Yonaguni, Ishigaki-Miyako/Yonaguni routes on RAC.

Japan members only. For more details, you can visit JAL website (Japanese only).

Seattle Times reported that Japan Airlines (JAL) has found some metal shavings left inside the fuel tank of their latest 767-300ER (JA654J). JAL troubleshoot the fuel imbalance problem of the 763 fuel tank and found small metal particles inside! The article did not say it's JA654J but you can tell from the delivery date.

Japan Airlines (JAL) has added another campaign to the JAL Mileage Project 2011. This time is discounted domestic awards if you travel in group of 2-4 people between June 27 and July 31 2011. You will be able to fly to zone A and zone B (roundtrip) with as little as 8,500 and 10,000 JMB miles respectively! That's a saving of 3,500 miles for zone A and 5,000 miles for zone B. Reservation starts at 9:30 on April 27 2011 (JST).

For more details you can refer to JAL website (Japanese/English). Notice the banner on the English website shows the wrong information right now. 8,500 and 10,000 miles should the correct numbers, not 7,500 and 8,500 miles :)

JAL will introduce a new coffee on all domestic flights. The new coffee is a collaboration between JAL and some coffee experts in Japan. They repeated tested the new coffee for 6 months and adjusted the coffee repeatedly. They finally come up with this new coffee created specifically for JAL flights. It has a rich flavor, pleasant acidity. JAL will start serving this brand new coffee on all domestic flights from April 28 2011.

On the other hand, JAL will run a special campaign and serve the finest coffee produced by Dr. Kawashima Yoshiaki "Grand Cru Café" on its domestic First Class between April 28 (Thursday) May 31 (Tuesday) 2011

For details, you can refer to JAL website (Japanese only)

Japan Airlines (JAL) has just announced the new fuel surcharge for international tickets issued on or after June 1 2011. As expected, the fuel surcharge will increase from zone E to zone G. Therefore for a US-Japan ticket, the surcharge will increase from USD202 to USD288 one way! For list of new surcharge, you can refer to JAL website (Japanese, English). For details on how JAL determines its fuel surcharge, you can refer to here.

Japan Airlines (JAL) added more domestic flights to its list of domestic flight suspensions. This time JTA flights between Okinawa and Ishigaki. Below are the flights affected and the flights passengers on those flights will be rebooked on.

OKA-ISG NU601 07:15－08:15 will be replaced by NU603 08:20-09:20 on Apr 21-28
OKA-ISG NU613 14:05－15:05 will be replaced by NU615 14:50-15:50 on Apr 20, 25-27
ISG-OKA NU612 13:10－14:05 will be replaced by NU614 13:45-14:40 on Apr 20, 25-27
ISG-OKA NU628 20:30－21:20 will be replaced by NU626 19:50-20:40 on Apr 20-27

For complete list of suspensions, you can refer to JAL website (Japanese only)

Japan Airlines (JAL) has announced the latest flight suspensions and capacity cut in May as a response to the drop in demand caused by the Tohoku Pacific Earthquake. JAL added NRT-KIX route to the suspension list. Below is the list of the change

JAL Express "Let's Do Out Best, Japan!" livery. Image by Japan Airlines.

Japan Airlines (JAL) has unveil the JAL Express (JEX) new livery. They will put "JAL Express" on the fuselage just like before. The 73H with the new livery will be the first plane to land at SDJ when it partially reopens on April 13 2011. JAL has added the slogan "Ganbarou Nippon" (Let's Do Our Best, Japan!) on the fuselage too. Below is a picture on Manichi Daily News provided by JAL.

According to @ikarosairline, the plane will be JA302J.

For more pictures you can visit Manichi Daily News.

Originally JAL only suspends the flights till May 31 so they can deploy the aircraft for Tohoku relief flights. But they have announced they will extend the suspension till June 30 few days ago. Below are the new details

Japan Airlines (JAL) will resume flights to Sendai (SDJ) earlier than expected on April 13 2011. JAL will operate 1 Daily flight to Tokyo Haneda (HND) and 2 daily flights to Osaka Itami (ITM). Below are the schedules

April 11 - 20
JAL4721 HND 08:55 - SDJ 10:00
JAL4724 SDJ 17:00 - HND 18:05

JAL4755 ITM 11:45 - SDJ 13:00
JAL4757 ITM 14:45 - SDJ 16:00
JAL4756 SDJ 11:00 - ITM 12:20
JAL4758 SDJ 14:00 - ITM 15:20

For the rest of the special Tohoku region relief flights, please visit JAL website: http://www.jal.co.jp/other/info2011_0411_rinji.html (Japanese only)

Hello new logo :) JAL has officially switched to the new crane logo today and the website has been updated since midnight JST

Now:

JAL website with the new logo

Before:

JAL website with the old logo

When Japan Airlines (JAL) and American Airlines (AA) start their JBV on April 1, rules to JAL Mileage Bank (JMB) will change and JMB members will get more our of AA flights :) Below are the details

In order to route resources and aircraft to operate to Tohoku region relief flights, Japan Airlines (JAL) has to temporarily suspend some of its domestic flights. Depends are below. All cancellations are operated by 73H, which is the aircraft JAL will use to increase capacity to Tohoku region.

Effective March 27 - May 31
HND-CTS JL3931 09:55－11:30 will be replaced by JL511 10:30-12:05
HND-CTS JL3933 14:55－16:30 will be replaced by JL521 15:30－17:05
CTS-HND JL3932 12:15－13:50 will be replaced by JL510 13:00－14:35
CTS-HND JL3934 18:20－19:55 will be replaced by JL524 19:00－20:35
HND-OKA JL3947 15:20－18:00 will be replaced by JL923 15:55－18:35
OKA-HND JL3948 19:50－22:10 will be replaced by JL924 20:05－22:25

Effective April 1 and April 3
HND-OKA JL3945 06:20－09:00 will be replaced by JL901 06:20－09:00
OKA-HND JL3946 12:55－15:15 will be replaced by JL910 13:35－15:55

Source: JAL website (in Japanese)

Just a bit of good news. Japan Airlines (JAL) finally emerges from bankruptcy protection today. JAL has procured 254.96 billion yen and made full repayment of the 395.15 billion rehabilitation debts. It will raise 12.7 billion yen through third party allotment of common shared but has no plans for additional financing right now.

Although it finally emerges from bankruptcy, the outlook is still cloudy due to the sharp drop in demand caused by the Tohoku Pacific Earthquake and the nuclear crisis. JAL saw 28% drop in domestic passengers and 25% drop in international ones. While ANA only saw 25% and 15% drop in domestic and international passengers respectively. JAL is hit way harder on international side than ANA :(

Sources:
Nikkei
Bloomberg

Japan Airliens (JAL) has announced a temporary frequency and capacity reduction on some of the international routes (and 1 domestic route) as a result of the weak demand caused by the Tohoku Pacific Earthquake. Below is the list of changes

Japan Airlines (JAL) has announced the extra flights between March 17 and 26. ALL scheduled flights to/from HNA are now resumed. Below are the schedules.

Japan Airlines (JAL) has released the schedules of the extra flights to Tohoku region on March 16. They have also decided to increase the capacity on the scheduled flights between March 16 and 26. Below are the details

JAL will operate some special flights to Tohoku region and support the earthquake rescue as much as possible. They have announced the flight schedules for March 13-15 on its website (Japanese only). Below are the schedules for these dates in English. JAL is still reviewing schedule for March 16 and after.

UPDATE: ALL ex-NRT flights on March 11 2011 are now canceled. HND only accepts landing at the moment.

JAL International flights affected by the 8.9 earthquake can be found on MilePoint. I have made the screen captures for international flights affected and their status. JAL site was a bit congested just now for status search. So if you don't have immediate need for the latest flight status, you can visit MilePoint for the info.

For domestic flight status, you can visit here.

Japan Airlines is unifying its checked baggage rules from April 1 on international flights. All flights will be under the new piece system. Now JAL has announced the updated elite benefits under the new baggage rules.

JGC/JMB Diamond/JGC Premier/JGC Sapphire:
Weigh System: 20kg extra -> 20 kg extra (i.e. no change)
Piece System (in Y): 2x23kg extra (i.e. total of 4x23kg) -> 1x32kg extra (i.e. total of 1x32kg and 2x23kg)
Piece System (in C/F): 2x32kg extra (i.e. total of 4x32kg) -> 1x32kg extra (i.e. total of 4x32kg)

JMB Crystal (no change):
Weigh System: 10kg
Piece System: 1 piece extra (23kg per piece in Y and 32 kg per piece in C/F)

Basically it doesn't affect you if you are flying C/F. But you gain a bigger allowance for 1 piece but lose an extra piece when you fly in Y.

I have mixed feelings about this change. On one hand I get one 32kg piece if I am flying in Y but on the other hand, now I only have 3 pieces (1x32kg + 2x23kg) :(

Source: JAL website (Japanese)

JAL's 787 (JA822J) is the first with GE powered engines to fly and will activate the new facility in Texas. First flight took off today. Too bad I guess no more update on this JAL 787 from KPAE blog after the first flight (Note that this plane has been painted with the old Arc of The Sun livery long time ago and will be delivered in this livery to JAL)



Source: Flight Global

Japan Airlines unveils the first plane with the new Tsurumaru livery. It organizes a special domestic tour to Hokkaido before its debut on international routes. Below are links to Japanese articles which includes some picture of the new 763 (JA654J). Also today JAL will have its last 747 flights. So keep an eye on the 747 retirement news :)

http://www.sankeibiz.jp/business/photos/110228/bsd1102281046008-p2.htm
http://www.jiji.com/jc/zc?k=201102/2011022800030&rel=j9
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20110228-00000004-maiph-bus_all.view-000
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20110228-00000003-maiph-soci.view-000

Departure Hall of Haneda International Terminal

So after taking all those check-in counter photos, there was still time left so I walked around a bit to check out the famous Edo Koji Zone, area for shops and restaurants modeled after the Edo period.

Update: There were a total of 3 passengers and 1 crew member injured according to the note issued by JAL (Japanese only).

Japan Airlines (JAL) flight JL074 hit sudden turbulence when it was enroute to Honolulu on Feb 11 2011. Two people onboard were injured with broken bones as a result. According to Inquirer.net,

One passenger broke their left thigh bone and a crew member suffered a broken right elbow, the spokesman said without giving further details.

It was a 767-300 plane and there were 239 passengers and 11 crew members onboard. That is a FULL HOUSE! JAL's 763 with A41 configuration only has 237 seats (30C 207Y) and there were 239 passengers! So there were infants/children onboard (I hope they didn't put people in the lav :p)

Make sure you fasten your seatbelt when resting!

Sources:
jiji.com (Japanese)
Inquirer.net (English)

JAL plan to organize a 2-day tour to celebrate the retirement of its A300-600R fleet on March 12 2011. The basic cost is JPY 21,800. You can add add-ons and select specific seats too. You will visit the HND hanger and take pictures on day 1, then on day two you will fly from HND to NGO. Reservation starts on Feb 16 10:30am. For details, please visit: http://www.jal.co.jp/domtour/shunkan/course2010/421/

By the way this is the last Airbus type in JAL's fleet. As one of Boeing's most loyal customers, JAL never ordered any planes from Airbus. All these A300-600R's are acquired from JAS during the merger. After this, JAL is finally Airbus-free

Currently Japan Airlines (JAL) have two different systems for checked baggage allowance: piece system for flights to and from US and Canada, and weigh system for the rest of the flights. The same thing applies to ANA's flights. But ANA announced they will switch to piece system from April 1 2011 on all international flights, thus simplifying the system and arguably giving more check baggage allowances for other passengers. According to Asahi, JAL is considering to do the same thing.

At least for Japan region JMB members, you will be able to request your post-flight JMB miles online. JAL will roll out that feature in mid Feb. But this is limited to international flights only for now.

For JAL Group international flights, you can request the post flight credits from 5 days after your flight until the 6-month deadline.
For JMB partner flights, you can request the post flight credits from 14 days after your flight till 6 months after.

For details, you can refer to JAL website: http://www.jal.co.jp/jalmile/use/int_flight_mile.html (Japanese)

Special Tour for JAL new livery. Image by Japan Airlines.

Japan Airlines (JAL) announced more details on the roll out of their new Tsurumaru livery. Although they won't be changing the company logo until April 1 2011, the new livery will debut a month ahead of the change. JAL has just received a brand new 767-300ER (which happens to be the 999th production 767) with registration number JA654J. This will be the first plane with the new Tsurumaru livery. As you can see in the delivery video on KPAE Paine Field, the plane was delivered without finishing the paint job. Body was painted with the new livery's white but the rudder was painted with the on Arc of The Sun livery. JAL will do some painting before rolling this out.