Tokyo Haneda slot - how will Virgin Operate it?

[justinbrett]

I assume they will be accommodated on ANA.

I would think CNS pax would be rebooked on JQ.

 

[AIRwin]

I would think CNS pax would be rebooked on JQ.

To NRT though?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Virgin just posted a video on their Tiktok about the MAX delivery flight to Australia. The cabin was briefly shown and the seats are indeed the same as the new ones installed on IJQ and IWQ.

Which in business class are slightly more comfortable than the usual seats, in terms of padding (they seem a fraction softer).

But the leg rest is disappointing. comes up and out about 2cm. Might be vaguely useful for someone very short.

Doesn’t anyone actually test these before they put them into service? (rhetorical question, ‘cause obviously no one has)

 

[justinbrett]

To NRT though?

Quicker than any other option - and cheaper for VA

 

[AIRwin]

Quicker than any other option - and cheaper for VA

Looks like there are still seats on JQ

 

[Himeno]

It appears VA78 is cancelled from HND to SYD - 3rd July. VA77 from CNS to HND is also cancelled tomorrow - 4th July. I wonder if it is aircraft issues or limited passenger numbers. I assume they will be accommodated on ANA.

Parking fees at the Tokyo airports are some of the most expensive in the world. While a 737 would be cheaper rates then a 787 or A330, they still wouldn't want to park an aircraft in Tokyo for a long period of time if they didn't have to.

 

[jrfsp]

VA78 HND-CNS tonight is cancelled too. VA flight status page says “Adverse weather across our network is affecting our services today.”

Is there strong winds en route which the 737 doesn’t have the range for?

 

[Zanzaid]

Friend was due to fly out of BNE today but got notified last night it was changed to go to Sydney then ANA onto Haneda. He wasn't pleased about the 6am flight down though!

 

[Saab34]

One would assume engineering. VBY doesn’t do 8 hour trips often.

 

[justinbrett]

Friend was due to fly out of BNE today but got notified last night it was changed to go to Sydney then ANA onto Haneda. He wasn't pleased about the 6am flight down though!

I wonder if they would have rebooked on QF had QF61 operated today. Moot point I guess.

 

[VOZ102]

VA78 HND-CNS tonight is cancelled too. VA flight status page says “Adverse weather across our network is affecting our services today.”

Likely the weather in CNS. Marginal weather and down the east coast. Next facility with customs is TSV so holding TSV plus holding fuel (due bad weather) meant the pax load would have been less than 10 to uplift.

See my earlier posts - the note to crew says they would rather cancel then fuel stop.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

MEL - SYD - CNS - HND 09/04/24
HND - CNS - MEL 13/04/24
In VAd and VAi's version of J, $4311.95.
Compared to JQ's version of J, its more or less the same, as both will have a bit of a lower service level than QF and SQ.
No lounges at CNS int, only in the CNS dom terminal.
Travelling Y to CNS on a separate PNR, can probably bring that price down to a lower level a bit.
Seeing that CNS int has no QF/VA lounge, so both the services will be mid scale service standard.

 

[Zanzaid]

Friend was due to fly out of BNE today but got notified last night it was changed to go to Sydney then ANA onto Haneda. He wasn't pleased about the 6am flight down though!

Don't want to get too off topic but thought it was interesting that this ANA flight wasn't quite full either, 20-30 free seats and my friend had the row of 3 to himself even (Though he's still going going to try get his Economy X seat refunded!). Wonder how many others from VA were booked on this flight.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Don't want to get too off topic but thought it was interesting that this ANA flight wasn't quite full either, 20-30 free seats and my friend had the row of 3 to himself even (Though he's still going going to try get his Economy X seat refunded!). Wonder how many others from VA were booked on this flight.

Fair enough in the refund if the economy X seat. Service paid for but not provided.

 

[_flyer]

Flying Business return with VA in the next week. I was looking at lounges in Haneda. Given VA don’t give lounge access for business or elite guests, I was looking at Priority Pass, but it appears there are no PP lounges nor Amex lounges, they are only at Narita Airport. Does anyone know of any decent lounges with paid access or through any credit cards? I do have dragon pass with Commbank, but the Power Lounge closes at 4pm and VAs flight is in the evening. ANA doesn’t offer paid access. Thanks in advance. I kinda wish I booked ANA with the great business sales they have had on offer, but i unfortunately booked VA first.

 

[bcworld]

Flying Business return with VA in the next week. I was looking at lounges in Haneda. Given VA don’t give lounge access for business or elite guests, I was looking at Priority Pass, but it appears there are no PP lounges nor Amex lounges, they are only at Narita Airport. Does anyone know of any decent lounges with paid access or through any credit cards? I do have dragon pass with Commbank, but the Power Lounge closes at 4pm and VAs flight is in the evening. ANA doesn’t offer paid access. Thanks in advance. I kinda wish I booked ANA with the great business sales they have had on offer, but i unfortunately booked VA first.

Sky Lounge - Terminal 3 - HND

Sky Lounge at Tokyo International Airport (HND), Terminal 3. Learn more about the lounge: amenities, photos, review, opening hours, location.

www.loungebuddy.com.au

Sounds like entry is cheap but you'll pay for food and alcohol still.

 

[Himeno]

The airport operates a handful of pay in lounges.

Lounge (Fees Apply) | List of Services | Service Guide | Haneda Airport Passenger Terminal

Information regarding on-premise services and lounges (fees apply). This is the official site for the Haneda Airport Passenger Terminal.

tokyo-haneda.com

 

[_flyer]

The airport operates a handful of pay in lounges.

Lounge (Fees Apply) | List of Services | Service Guide | Haneda Airport Passenger Terminal

Information regarding on-premise services and lounges (fees apply). This is the official site for the Haneda Airport Passenger Terminal.

tokyo-haneda.com

I thought these lounges closed at 4pm, I must have been on a different site. Looks like they close around 9pm. Thanks for the link.

 

[Digicola]

I got to fly CNS-HND in business a few days back so heres a mini mini review with some photos for those that were interested.

Obviously some of these are subject to change, especially when the MAX comes in later this month.

Spoiler: Review

Not much to say about CNS intl, terminal is rather big for the traffic it sees these days but for some reason security is tiny so that ended up taking around 20 minutes (two jetstar flights were departing around the same time). There are more f&b options in the domestic terminal so you’d probably want to eat there before walking over if you’re connecting.

Boarding started 30 minutes before departure and was quite slow for some reason but when you have only 70ish pax on board it still doesn’t take too long. I’d say about 60-70% of pax were Japanese, I think I recognized around 10 pax from the lounge in Brisbane the same morning so definitely quite a few people connecting. I even saw a couple connecting onto Frankfurt in HND.

Upon boarding all seats in business had a pillow, a blanket, a bottle of water and after being seated I was handed an amenity kit (on a tray no less) and a pre departure beverage. Another drink was served upon takeoff with some almonds.

Pillow was big and plush, blanket wasn’t soft on the skin but was still comfortable and quite warm. Amenity kit was well stocked although for flights to Japan I wish there were slippers on offer. Biggest problem on board is the lack of power ports, the max will address this but I recommend you make sure to charge your phone in the terminal before flying off, getting a power bank isn’t a bad idea either.

The current business seats are absolutely terrible to sleep in, the recline is a joke so do take that into consideration. Hopefully the MAX seats are better in this regard. For a daytime flight it was palatable but you might see me complain a bit more for the redeye.

First meal was served about 90 minutes after takeoff, second one about 90 minutes before landing. Orders were taken in order 1A/C, 1D/F, 2D/F, 2A/C and reversed for the second meal.

There was a Japanese option and an « international » option (menu below). I opted for the Japanese bento box and I must admit I was impressed. The teriyaki chicken definitely hit the spot, I guess I wish there was a little bit more rice but overall it was very good. I also tried the other dish as the cabin wasn’t full and I wanted to review it, the ravioli was just fine and the soba tasted like it was drenched in Big Mac sauce.
Wasn’t a fan of either the blueberry or tea cakes but I’m not big on cakes in general so it might be just me.

Second meal was either pork dumplings or arancini. Once again I got to try both options, the dumplings were really not bad considering they were served on a plane. The arancini were fine but I didn’t like the sauce. The carrot cake was quite good though.

Throughout the flight the FA in charge of our cabin was extremely proactive in offering refills making sure we had everything we needed etc. There was a Japanese elderly couple she tried to speak a little bit of Japanese to hell communication (there was another fully Japanese speaking FA on board who would also come and check on them every once in a while).

Arriving in Haneda at 8pm is perfect as it arrived right before the big evening arrival banks. In my experience 30 minutes later and the immigration hall/baggage claim are absolutely rammed.

Spoiler: Photos

Interesting side note, apparently the bento boxes were going to be used for the original BNE-HND service and had been lying around for three years until they decided to use them for these flights.
Pillow and blanket should be coming to all Short haul International routes and improved catering *might* come to DPS.

Overall I’m quite happy considering what I paid. Service and food were definitely a highlight. Comfort levels should increase once the MAX comes online, everybody at VA seemed excited and proud of the route. Hopefully it does well enough for the overlords to consider bringing in widebodies.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thanks for the report! I don’t think the Max is going to solve any of the seat issues. I flew on the new seats last week… they are a little softer, and the tray table is better, but no change to legroom or recline. No cabin divider on the new interior planes, although that might change with the max? The leg rest was useless… came up, and out, by no more than a couple of centimetres. No one used them.

Printed menu is nice!