New cabin
JAL introduced new international First and Executive Class seats: the JAL Suite for First Class, featured a seat 20 percent roomier than the Skysleeper Solo in a 1-2-1 configuration; and the JAL Shell Flat Neo Seat for Executive Class Seasons, a slightly revised version of the original Shell Flat Seat, with a wider seat; expanded center console; and the world’s first in-flight photo art exhibit, Sky Gallery. These seats, along with the Premium Economy seats, debuted on Japan Airlines Flights 5 and 6, operated on the Tokyo–New York route on 1 August 2008. It expanded to the Tokyo–San Francisco route on 13 September 2008, and the Tokyo–Chicago and Los Angeles in 2009. Since 31 October 2010, the new cabin is also used on flights from Narita to Jakarta, being the only Asian destination for which the new cabin is used.
In 2013, JAL debuted new versions of its economy and premium economy seats called Sky Premium and Sky Wider Economy respectively. The Sky Premium seats, found on selected 777-300s and soon 787s, feature the same width as the Sky Shell seats but with a 4″ larger seat pitch of 42″ and a 3″ larger recline of up to 10″ compared to a 38″ pitch and 7″ recline on the Sky Shell seats. The Sky Wider Economy seats, found on select 767’s and select 777-300s, feature slimmer seats with 4″ more legroom, and another inch of width totaling up to 35″ of seat pitch, and a 19″ width compared to the 31″ pitch and 18″ width of standard economy seats, plus a larger PTV screen of up to 11″. The newer 787s will feature a new version of the Sky Wider seats called Sky Wider II, which will feature 5″ more legroom and 2″ more width totaling up to 36″ of seat pitch and a 20″ width in a less dense 2-4-2 setup instead of the 3-3-3 setup commonly used in a 787’s economy cabin.
In premium cabins, JAL introduced fully lie-flat seats, branded as Sky Suite in Business Class cabin and enhanced First Suite seats in First Class cabin. The Sky Suite is in a staggered 2-3-2 setup that offer direct aisle access to all business class passengers. These can be found on all 13 of JAL’s Boeing 777-300ER aircraft (named SS7), 10 of JAL’s 787-8 aircraft (named SS8) and 8 of JAL’s 787-9 aircraft (named SS9). Later in 2015, JAL introduced a new version of Sky Suite, called Sky Suite II, in order to fit lie-flat seats on its new international 767-300ER fleet (named SS6), in a 1-2-1 setup. Since the seats are less wide than the original Sky Suite, SS6 aircraft are often seen on shorter international routes, like inter-Asian routes and Hawaiian routes. In 2016, as JAL was upgrading its Boeing 777-200ER fleet used on selected inter-Asian and Hawaiian flights, JAL introduced a third version of Sky Suite, called Sky Suite III, which is a lie-flat reverse-herringbone arranged seat. This seat is equipped on JAL’s most Boeing 777-200ER fleet (named SS2) and 5 of JAL’s Boeing 787-9 fleet (named SS9 II) in a 1-2-1 setup. Like SS6 aircraft, SS2 and SS9 II aircraft are operating on shorter international routes. All flights equipped with lie-flat J seats may be accessed here: for Sky Suite flights; for Sky Suite II flights; for Sky Suite III flights.
International services
The airline’s international services with existing cabins feature the fully reclining JAL First Class JAL Suite; JAL Business Class JAL Sky Suite, JAL Sky Suite II, JAL Sky Suite III, JAL Shell Flat NEO, JAL Skyluxe Seat or JAL Skyrecliner; JAL Premium Economy JAL Sky Premium; and JAL Economy Class JAL Economy Class Seat or JAL Sky Wider. The First Class Skysleeper Solo reclines fully and features genuine leather upholstery from Poltrona Frau of Italy. The Executive Class Seasons Shell Flat Seat is a lie-flat design with the ability to lower armrests to the same height as the seat when reclined. Premium Economy is a recent addition, it was first introduced on the Tokyo–London route on 1 December 2007. It features a shell-shaped seat that allows passengers to recline by sliding their seat forward, without having the seat in front intrude when reclining.
Japan domestic services
On Japan domestic services, the airline offers First Class, Executive Class Class J and Economy Class. The First Class seat is made from premium genuine leather with a seat width of about 53 cm (21 in) and a seat pitch of about 130 cm (51 in). Class J features ergonomically designed reclining seats that promote relaxation by allowing passengers to move naturally and maintain a balanced posture. JAL plans to begin refitting its domestic fleet with leather seats and in-flight wireless internet service from May 2014.