Japan has two of the finest legacy carriers flying the skies: Japan Airlines (JAL) and All Nippon Airways (ANA). So if there was the opportunity to fly to Japan on one of these carriers, which one would be the better choice? Let’s find out.
Destinations served
According to Flight Connections, Japan Airlines serves 44 domestic destinations and 48 international destinations in 23 countries. ANA, on the other hand, serves 53 domestic destinations and 53 international destinations in 27 countries. Information is accurate as of April 2020. Both airlines also fly out of both major Tokyo airports – Haneda and Narita.
It would seem that ANA is the winner in terms of overall places one can travel with the airline. However, the gap is further widened when you take into account the reach of their respective alliances.
Japan Airlines is part of the oneworld airline alliance, which serves 1,100 destinations in 180 territories. The Star Alliance, on the other hand, has its member airlines flying to more than 1,300 destinations in 195 countries worldwide. A primary advantage of Star Alliance is its intra-Africa offerings with Ethiopian Airlines. This is something not fully realized with oneworld despite Royal Air Maroc’s recent entry into the alliance.
Fleet
Both airlines have a reasonably modern aircraft fleets. However, Japan Airlines now has the Airbus A350 – an aircraft not found in the ANA fleet. The JAL A350 is, however, limited to domestic operations for now.
On the other hand, ANA is one of the few airlines in the world operating the Airbus A380. This aircraft strictly operates the Tokyo Narita to Honolulu service and has a unique series of liveries for its superjumbos.
Both airlines operate the 787 Dreamliner. Interestingly, when comparing the 787s of both airlines, it looks like JAL has, on average, wider economy seats for long-haul flights than its competitor – according to SeatGuru.
Inflight service
By all accounts, both airlines offer fantastic inflight service. In fact, according to Nippon.com, a 2019 Airline Satisfaction Survey conducted by AB-Road Research Center of Japan, awarded in second place to All Nippon Airways and third to Japan Airlines.
As for Skytrax’s 2019 ranking for World’s Best Airline, results are slightly different. ANA ranked third for this list while Japan Airlines came in at eleventh place. For 2019, Skytrax awarded ANA 3rd place for “best cabin crew” and 8th place to Japan Airlines.
Based on rankings, it does seem like ANA comes out on top. However, when the competition is so fierce at the top, sometimes things can come down to personal preference rather than objective factors.
Conclusion
It’s clear that Japan has two excellent full-service carriers, both rivaling the best that any European or North American legacy carrier could offer. There are still many more factors that we could examine – many of which may only speak to a small group of travelers.
One FlyerTalk member commented saying, “JAL has the better lounges, but ANA has the better business class seats,” while another said, “Depends a lot on what routes you fly and in what class you fly. In general the hard product and service are very good on both.”
Have you flown both airlines? Which one do you like more? Share your experiences with us in the comments.