A new travel option is coming to the Singapore – Tokyo route from April 2024, with All Nippon Airways’ new low-cost carrier AirJapan announcing that Changi Airport will be the third destination on its network, following initial routes to Bangkok and Seoul.

This will see five times weekly non-stop service on the airline’s all-Economy Class Boeing 787s, with return fares available this summer from under S$420 including taxes and fees – if all you need is a seat and hand luggage.

With 32-inch seat pitch, matching comfort levels on Singapore Airlines in this cabin, the new service could be a good option to consider for a cheaper Japan trip this year.

Who is AirJapan?

AirJapan is a new low-cost medium-haul carrier from Star Alliance carrier All Nippon Airways, which will exclusively use Boeing 787-8 aircraft transferred from ANA.

Based at Tokyo Narita Airport, initial routes for the airline are to Bangkok (from 9th February 2024) and Seoul (from 22nd February 2024).

This concept is effectively ANA’s response to ZIPAIR, a low-cost long-haul carrier set up by rival Japan Airlines in mid-2020, which operates the same aircraft type in a two-class configuration from Narita to destinations in Asia and North America.

AirJapan promises to offer “a Japanese culture experience” alongside “high quality and comfort” on its flights.

As you may know, AirJapan is not actually a “new” airline. The carrier was first set up in 1990 as ANA’s charter division, and now operates selected ANA-branded flights to and from several cities in Asia, using Boeing 787-8 aircraft in a full-service configuration.

As far as passengers are concerned though, these are just ANA flights. That will change with the adoption of the new AirJapan brand, which will operate as a separate low-cost entity with its own branding.

The schedule

AirJapan will serve the Singapore – Tokyo Narita route five times weekly from 26th April 2024, with an overnight service from Changi, but an evening option in the return direction.

Here’s how the schedule looks.

Singapore ⇄ Tokyo Narita
26 Apr 2024 – 26 Oct 2024

			Days
			M	T	W	T	F	S	S
	NQ4* 787-8
SIN 00:55		NRT 09:10
Duration: 07:15
	NQ3 787-9
NRT 17:35		SIN 23:55
Duration: 07:20

* From 27th April 2024

An overnight flight in Economy Class from Singapore to Japan may be a bit of a struggle for many, but a more civilised evening departure in the return direction should be much better-received, getting you back into Singapore just before midnight.

This new service will increase the number of non-stop flights between Singapore and Tokyo from 91 per week to 96 per week, with AirJapan becoming the sixth airline to operate on the route, which already sees multiple services by:

• All Nippon Airways (21/wk)
• Japan Airlines (21/wk)
• Scoot (7/wk)
• Singapore Airlines (35/wk)
• ZIPAIR (7/wk)

Despite these new services, non-stop Singapore – Tokyo flight frequencies will still fall slightly short of the 98 per week offered pre-COVID, based on summer 2019 schedules.

AirJapan fares

We found fares in both directions on this route for as little JPY17,500 (S$159) plus taxes, which means the following total one-way pricing when taxes and fees are included:

• SIN-NRT: JPY24,580 (S$223)
• NRT-SIN: JPY21,510 (S$195)

Do note that these lowest fares only appear to be offered on Tuesday flights from Singapore to Tokyo, and on Thursday departures from Tokyo to Singapore, with higher fares on other days of the week, especially over the weekend.

These are AirJapan’s “Simple” fare category, which basically come with nothing but an unassigned seat and 7kg carry-on baggage allowance.

Additional charges are then levied for seat selection, checked baggage and meals in this case.

Aircraft and seats

AirJapan will operate the Boeing 787-8 in an all-Economy Class configuration, but with only 324 seats, thanks to a spacious 32-inch pitch.

For comparison, Scoot squeezes 335 seats on its two-class Boeing 787-8s, which include a ScootPlus section, and have just 30-inch seat pitch in Economy Class.

This will put AirJapan’s Economy Class legroom on a par with Singapore Airlines, also matching the Economy Class 17.5-inch seat width SIA offers on its Boeing 787-10s in this cabin.

AirJapan will be one of the only operators of the Boeing 787 in the world to install an all-Economy Class configuration on these aircraft.

To our knowledge, only British leisure carrier TUI Airlines operates a pair of its Boeing 787-8s in an all-Economy fit, with 325 seats. All other airlines have at least two cabin classes on these aircraft.

As for the seats themselves, AirJapan has selected the Safran Seats Z110i product for its cabins, which have been totally refurbished from their former lives as ANA jets.

Cabin interiors have been designed in partnership with German designers Acumen.

Seats are mostly laid out in a 3-3-3 configuration, though there are some couple pairs by the window at the very front and back of the cabin.

AirJapan Wi-Fi and entertainment

Unlike competitor ZIPAIR, which offers free Wi-Fi to all passengers, AirJapan will charge all passengers to remain connected on board.

The cost depends which of the following time-based plans you select:

• 30 minutes: US$6.95
• 3 hours: US$16.95
• Full flight: US$21.95

Note that you can only access the internet on the device used to purchase the Wi-Fi plan.

While there is no seat-back entertainment system, USB-A and USB-C charging sockets are provided for each passenger and a device holder is also available for propping up your own phone or tablet.

Passengers will be able to stream “the latest Hollywood movies, children’s programs, animated cartoons and AirJapan original videos” to their own personal device at no additional charge.

AirJapan fare types

Instead of booking the cheapest fare and then paying for optional extras, you can pre-select one of AirJapan’s ‘bundled’ fare types, which already include them:

• Simple: Nothing but the (unassigned) seat and 7kg carry-on baggage
• Standard: 7kg carry-on baggage, 23kg checked luggage, standard seat selection
• Selected: 7kg carry-on baggage, 2 x 23kg checked luggage, premium seat selection and an inflight meal

Passengers seated in the forward section (Rows 1 to 9) are offered complimentary soft drinks, comprising coffee, green tea, apple juice, orange juice, Pepsi Cola and water.

Otherwise drinks are chargeable via the inflight purchase menu.

13 varieties of pre-ordered inflight meal are also available on AirJapan flights.

Seat selection fees are in accordance with the airline’s rather complex pricing schedule, and do note that the cost increases after making your initial booking. Blankets and other amenities are also available to purchase on board.

The popular Singapore – Tokyo route is getting a sixth airline from April this year, with ANA’s low-cost division AirJapan set to start five times weekly service between the two cities.

This will add another low-cost option between Singapore and Japan, using all-Economy Class configured Boeing 787-8s, with fares starting at S$420 return.

As with other low-cost carriers, add-ons like checked baggage, seat assignment, meals and on-board Wi-Fi come at additional cost, though some can be acquired through more expensive ‘bundled’ fare types available at the booking stage.

(Cover Photo: Kokubo Yohichi)