A relatively new entrant to the low-cost carrier market, ZIPAIR only began flying passengers in 2022 after COVID-19 delayed their launch plans. The airline is a low-cost subsidiary of Japan Airlines, solely flying international routes.

ZIPAIR currently operates a fleet of eight Boeing 787s from its base at Tokyo’s Narita Airport to various destinations within Asia and North America.

The airline’s Boeing 787s are fitted with 272 Economy seats and 18 “Full-Flat” seats. Many of ZIPAIR’s low-cost competitors also offer a more premium offering over Economy, such as Jetstar Business, ScootPlus or AirAsia’s Premium Flatbed. On those low-cost carriers, the seats are not quite to the same standard as Business Class on full-service airlines. But you do get benefits such as extra luggage or complimentary meals.

ZIPAIR’s Business Class, termed “ZIP Full-Flat”, takes a completely different approach. You pay only for the seat and 7kg of carry-on luggage – and have to add everything else on, from food to checked luggage. However, the seat is a fully lie-flat bed with direct aisle access!

I recently needed to get from Tokyo to Manila in order to position for a cheap Business Class flight to Europe, and ZIPAIR piqued my curiosity. Join me as I review the seat and service on ZIPAIR’s Boeing 787 “Full-Flat” Business Class.

Flight Details

Flight number	ZG95
Route	Tokyo – Narita (NRT) to Manila (MNL)
Aircraft type	Boeing 787
Class of travel	Business Class
Seat number	3K
On-time performance	We arrived on time
Star rating

The route

Flight Cost

The base price for “ZIP Full-Flat” Business Class for Tokyo to Manila was JPY49,010 (~AU$492). For context, the price for a normal Economy Class seat for my flight was JPY31,400 (~$AU313).

As mentioned above, ZIPAIR only includes the seat and a carry-on bag in the base price. However, the selection of extras you can purchase was the most extensive of any airline I’ve seen!

As such, I also added on the following:

• JPY1000 (~AU$10) for seat selection
• JPY1600 (~AU$16) for lounge access
• JPY3000 (~AU$30) for 8kg extra carry-on luggage
• JPY1600 (~AU$16) for an onboard meal.

This took the total cost to JPY56,210 (~AU$564) for my ZIPAIR Full Flat experience.

There were also some more unique items available for purchase:

• Priority check-in/luggage delivery
• Amenity set, including a blanket, slippers, an eye mask and neck pillow
• A range of sweet snacks such as banana-flavoured KitKats and artisan chocolates
• Women’s underwear, hair serum and sunscreen

Airport Experience

ZIPAIR have both check-in desks and self-serve kiosks. Most customers were using the self-serve kiosks so there was no line for the check-in desks, making it a super-fast experience.

Security wasn’t open until 7am, although I’d checked in about 30 minutes prior. There was already a lengthy queue and a long wait before I was able to pass immigration.

My lounge access add-on gave me access to the TraveLounge Narita. This lounge has since closed, but ZIPAIR now uses the Narita Premier Lounge instead.

The first thing I noticed was that I actually paid more to ZIPAIR for the lounge than what they charge for entry at the door! It turns out that my lounge pass also included a free dessert, so I got a chocolate cake. All food except for some small snacks was available for a fee.

The lounge had some decent views, and nice seating areas. During the entire time I was there I only saw one other person, so it ended up being a peaceful place to spend the time before my flight.

I headed over to the gate for boarding about 40 minutes prior to departure. Boarding was orderly, with those needing assistance called first. The next call was for ZIPAIR Business Class customers and those in groups A-E.

The Hard Product

ZIPAIR’s Business Class cabin consists of five rows of seats in a 1-2-1 configuration. The seats are all lie-flat, reverse herringbone seats – the same basic seat as KLM’s brand new Boeing 777 Business Class, but without a door.

There were a few different storage compartments available, with suitable places for my laptop and phone, as well as associated cables.

I chose seat 3K, a window seat on the right side of the cabin. When laid flat the leather seat was comfortable, with plenty of space in the footwell.

The cabin was basic and honestly a little sterile despite the pink mood lighting. The centre storage bins were missing, likely due to a crew rest above – these planes also do trans-Pacific legs!

Each seat has a power outlet, USB 2.0 charging port and buttons on a small console, to adjust the recline. Instead of an entertainment screen, ZIPAIR installed a literature pocket.

As a substitute for seatback entertainment, ZIPAIR offers free Wi-Fi to all customers, as well as a limited selection of content available for streaming. This includes about 10 movies and an in-flight map, as well as some other Japanese content.

The Wi-Fi speeds were actually not bad with a 2.5Mb download speed. That was more than enough for internet browsing, although it did struggle with streaming content in HD.

ZIPAIR’s Business Class cabin and seat definitely felt a step above a low-cost carrier, except for the lack of seat-back entertainment. Although in my opinion, free and decent Wi-Fi more than made up for it!

The Soft Product

ZIPAIR doesn’t offer any amenities for free. As above, you can purchase an amenity kit including blankets and pillows.

You could order various products in-flight, with a far greater range available on-board than what was available for pre-purchase. Items available included Pringles, instant noodles, ice cream, beer and whisky.

I pre-ordered a pork katsu-don, which was served on a single tray about an hour after takeoff. This also came with a bottle of water.

Unfortunately, the meal was a bit soggy and didn’t have much flavour to it at all. It was a disappointing end to a Japan trip full of good food!

After the meal service, the cabin crew applied the window dimmers to their maximum level. I honestly don’t understand why the crew take full control of the windows on a day flight.

Apart from take-off and landing checks, and the delivery/removal of my food, the crew didn’t interact with me at all. For me, that’s not necessarily a bad thing – when interacting, they were polite and efficient. They were also very prompt when answering the call buttons of others in the cabin.

Wilson McTaggart

Wilson's love of travel started from a young age, but his love for points developed after figuring out ways to travel on a gap year for less - leading naturally towards Australian Frequent Flyer! Wilson's hobbies include skiing, cricket and planning trips, both with and without points.

Wilson posts on the AFF forum as @WilsonM.