After saying goodbye to New Zealand in Christmas 2014, as well as touring around a few SE Asian countries, January 2015 was the start of a big move and a new life in Canada. This report covers ANA's morning service from Manila to Narita, and was the flight that won my loyalty to the airline and made them my preferred carrier.
Airline: ANA (All Nippon Airways)
Aircraft and Reg #: Boeing 767-300ER (JA608A)
Flight Number: NH950 (changed to NH820 when the Dreamliner started flying this route)
Class: Economy (Y)
Seat #: 35A
Itinerary: MNL-NRT-SFO-YYC
Flight Route: Manila (MNL) to Tokyo-Narita (NRT)
Date of Departure: January 2015
Check-In and Boarding Experience
ANA is one of a handful of foreign airlines that uses MNL Terminal 3, which imo is more convenient than the older Terminal 1. The line for Economy check-in was long, but I was directed to the Online Check-In counter as I had done online check in the night before. The agent tagged my bags all the way to Calgary, but says I need to re-check them during my transit time in San Francisco. The boarding pass was issued and I was finished check-in in just 10 minutes.
There was also virtually nobody in the immigration lines and the people who were in line were the same passengers on the flight I was taking. Once at the boarding gate, there was a document verification check before allowing passengers to enter the gate area.
The aircraft being used for the flight, registration JA608A. This aircraft is no longer flying on international flights and has been reconfigured for domestic use.
Unlike Japan, where the agents let you keep the whole boarding pass when flying ANA (and even JAL), Manila airport does not let you keep the whole boarding pass and tears it after scanning, leaving you with just a small stub. ANA Manila does not accept mobile or home printed boarding passes either, making it more difficult to try and keep the whole pass. As a huge collector of these, I try to keep the whole boarding pass whenever I fly.
As I entered the plane, two cabin attendants greeted the passengers and directed them to their seats. I was settled in 35A, which was located towards the back of the aircraft.
The passenger load on this flight was full, and although ANA is a Japanese airline and all the cabin attendants onboard were Japanese, the majority of the passengers were a mix of Westerners and Filipinos connecting onto other flights out of Narita, as it is a popular connection hub for flights from SE Asia to North America, and vice versa.
Pushback and Departure
Pushback was on-time at 9:45AM, however the taxi to Runway 06 took 25 minutes as it is located at the opposite side of the airport. There were also a vast majority of international flights departing, mostly Philippine Airlines flights. Our flight was taxiing behind a Japan Airlines B767 and Delta B747, who were also bound for Narita. The safety video was also played on the rather small PTV.
After 35 minutes spent on the ground after pushback, it was our turn for takeoff.
One thing I like about ANA's 767 is that the overhead TVs display forward camera vision, which allows the passengers to see the takeoff and landing phase from a pilot's point of view.
Inflight Service
Fifteen minutes after takeoff, the seatbelt sign was turned off and the cabin attendants began the service. Wet towels were distributed along with a snack mix. I opted for kabosu juice for the drink.
Meal service started shortly after. There weren't any menus provided, but instead the CA handed us out a card with pictures of the meal options available. I opted for the Japanese meal, with Pepsi for the drink.
The 767 may not be a new aircraft, but it was kept clean and this particular aircraft looked modern on the inside thanks to the Boeing Signature Interior fitted.
After finishing the meal, I explored the IFE system. The selection was not really extensive, but since ANA does not use 767s on longhaul flights (with the exception of YVR, which then switched to a Dreamliner), the content was sufficient enough for this 3.5 hour flight.
For the most part, I put on the flight map.
The conditions for flying were nice with little turbulence en-route to Narita.
The highlight of this flight was the dedication to service and Japanese hospitality provided by the cabin attendants. They would respond to the call button promptly, passed around drinks frequently every 15-20 minutes, even keeping young ones entertained by giving them toys to play with. One CA even offered to look after a parent's infant while she went to use the lavatory. For sleeping passengers during the meal service, they took down the seat numbers in their notebooks and checked to see if they were awake sometime later. When they were, they apologized that they missed the meal service but had saved a meal for them when they woke up so their sleep was not disturbed. They would also chat with some passengers and not disappear into the galley after meal service has been completed. Even though the English skills of the crew may not be as proficient as other airlines like CX or SQ, they do their best to accommodate to passengers' requests (it also doesn't hurt to learn a little Japanese). During cruise, a CA and I had a little conversation to pass the time. When it was time for descent, she came to my seat and offered me airline souvenirs to remember the flight by, and personally thanked me for flying with ANA to Narita, as well as wishing me a nice trip onwards to San Francisco. With service like this provided to the passengers, ANA has become my favourite airline to fly since this flight, and is still my preferred carrier today whenever I travel to/from Japan and Asia.
Descent and Arrival
Shortly afterwards, the plane began its descent into Narita airport. Spoilers were up during approach.
Aircraft landed 10 minutes ahead of schedule.
Depending on the arrival time, some ANA flights would park at a remote stand and passengers would get bussed into the terminal. This time, a jet bridge was used.
Parked next to an ANA B77W, which was apparently the aircraft being used on my connecting flight to San Francisco.
BONUS: Transit Experience and Connecting Flights
About half the plane from my flight were transit passengers, and the aircraft landed within the same hour as other ANA flights from SE Asia. The transit security screening took about 30 minutes to get through, with some passengers getting a little worried about making their connecting flights. The terminal also looked very busy as there were various ANA, United Airlines and Air Canada flights bound for North America with departure times close to each other. At 4:45PM, my flight to San Francisco was ready for boarding.
NH8: Tokyo-Narita to San Francisco
Since I didn't really take much pictures of my connecting flights as much as my MNL-NRT flight, I thought I'd briefly just mention them here.
ANA Y class cabin on the 77W, configured in 3-4-3. Seats are a little narrower than the 2-4-3 config found on other 77Ws, but they retained the generous 34" pitch.
Meal served after takeoff, along with wine offered afterwards.
Flight Routing.
UA6414: San Francisco to Calgary
After a 9-hour layover in SFO, it was time to board the last flight to Calgary onboard United Express. Only drinks were served on this flight and as soon as I finished mine, I went to sleep until the aircraft began its descent into YYC.
Conclusion
Overall, it was a nice flight onboard ANA. Although the aircraft used may not be the newest with older seats and limited IFE content, the onboard hospitality and dedication to service by the Japanese crew made up for it. Hoping to take more ANA flights in the future when travel restrictions due to Covid ease up.
