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From the lobby of our hotel, we took an airport shuttle to Kagoshima Airport, which was about an hour away. We drove past some really beautiful countryside scenery, which was made really dramatic by the ever-smoking Sakurajima volcano in the backdrop.
Driving past beautiful Kyushu countryside towards Kagoshima Airport
On our way to Kyushu, we had already tried JAL’s First Class domestic service, from HND to FUK. This time on our way back to HND, we wanted to try JAL’s Class J service, which is what JAL calls their domestic business class service. For this particular flight, Class J was just $10-$15 dollars more per seat, so it wasn’t a difficult decision to try it. For the most part, you just get a slightly wider seat. The service and everything remains the same.
Kagoshima airport is not a big airport, serviced by one runway and composed of a single terminal building with a handful of gates. Most of the traffic is domestic, and the only international flights are to neighboring countries such as China and Korea. Nevertheless, the airport felt comfortable and clean, and there are still plenty of shops and restaurants for you to choose from.
Kagoshima Airport
Departure board
Kagoshima Airport Terminal
After getting checked in, we went up to the 2nd floor and sat down at a coffee shop to have breakfast. From the restaurant you could see into the secure area where you could see planes parked at the gates, as well as planes landing on the runway.
Ordered a French Toast for breakfast at the cafe
After eating, we checked out the “SORA STAGE” exhibition room as well as the observation deck. It seems almost every airport in Japan has some kind of observation deck. North American airports, take note! 🙂
Kagoshima Airport observation deck
From the observation deck, you could see a good portion of the runway, as well as a view of all the gates. As we were still really early for our flight, we spent a good amount of time here plane-spotting and enjoying the beautiful weather. There were a lot of other aviation enthusiasts on the deck as well.
Kagoshima Airport observation deck
After checking out the observation deck, we got ourselves through security and waited for our plane at the gate.
Our plane, a Boeing 767-300
Boarding gate
Kagoshima (KOJ) -> Tokyo Haneda (HND)
Airline: Japan Airlines
Flight No: JAL646
Aircraft: Boeing 767-300
Date: March 24, 2018
Scheduled Departure: 12:50 PM
Scheduled Arrival: 2:25 PM
Duration: 1 hr 35 mins
Class: Class J
JAL’s Class J is in a 2-2-2 seating configuration with 7 rows. We had selected seats 5H and 5K on the right side of the plane.
JAL Domestic Class J
JAL Domestic Class J
The seats had a decent width and were pretty comfortable given the short flight. It reminded me of Domestic First Class flights in North America, such as United’s Domestic First Class. There was a small center console for drinks or other small personal items. There was an IFE panel on the side of the seat, which I think just controlled some music channels, as there was no IFE screen available. Pleasant blue mood lighting lit up the cabin ceiling.
Center Console / Side Table
IFE Controls
Seatback
Seat recline function
Cabin ambient lighting
In terms of amenities, a bright red Class J blanket was provided, as well as a set of headphones. The tray table can be found tucked beneath one of the armrests, and folds out to a decent size.
Headphones
Class J Blanket
Tray Table found beneath armrest
Tray Table Extended
After pushback, it was a quick taxi to the runway, since the airport wasn’t very big.
Pushing back from Gate 10, beside J-Air
Small domestic planes in front of KOJ Tower
JAL Q400 in the old livery
Views after takeoff
Views of Kagoshima Airport after takeoff
Views during cruise
There was no meal service for the flight, but there was beverage service. I just ordered myself a coffee.
Coffee service
What surprised me was that there was free Wifi on board, and it was actually a pretty fast speed!
Wifi card instructions
Class J cabin during cruise
Approaching Haneda
Final approach into Haneda
Much of the flight was pretty uneventful, and pretty soon we were on approach into Tokyo. There’s not a whole lot to review for this flight, as it was such a short flight where there wasn’t much service or amenities provided. Having said that, I would still recommend going for the upgrade to Class J if you can, as the price gap is not significant at all. Even for the wider and more comfortable seat, I would say it is worth it.
Taxiing past a Lufthansa A350 at Haneda
Arrived in Haneda!
For a more cinematic experience, check out the trip report to go along with this review!
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