• SiewchSingapore & Tokyo | 2024Traveler
    The Blue Turtle at the gate in HNL.
    My first glimpse of the Blue Turtle as I walked towards the C gates.The Blue Turtle at the gate in HNL.The Blue Turtle at the gate in HNL.Inside the main deck cabin in the A380.My seat on NH183.My legroom at the emergency exit on NH183.A view of the massive wing from inside the cabin.Another view of the wing from further back in the cabin.NH183 lining up for takeoff on runway 08R with an Amazon A330 (operated by Hawaiian) taxiing.Before the takeoff roll.Our very quiet and smooth takeoff from the reef runway.My view of Honolulu after takeoff.Safety card on the ANA A380.My surprisingly substantial main meal on NH183.Pre-arrival snack box on NH183.Contents of the snack box - tuna croissant, yoghurt, and cookie.The Blue Turtle at the gate in Narita.The Blue Turtle at the gate in Narita. The Orange Turtle is in the background.The flight path of NH183 as captured on FlightRadar24.FlightRadar24 information on JA381J.My boarding pass on NH183.

    Honolulu to Tokyo Narita

    October 12, 2024 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    All Nippon Airways NH183 | HNL/NRT
    Economy Class
    Airbus A380-800 | JA381J
    ATD/1125 | ATA/1413+1

    When I was planning this trip, I found a very reasonably priced Business Class fare on Malaysia Airlines from Narita to Singapore thanks to the weak yen. This in turn meant I needed to find my way to Narita to connect to and from the flights I had booked. Unfortunately, Japan Airlines, which is my go to carrier on this route, wasn't cheap for the days I needed to travel. So, I decided to book myself on ANA's A380 for the novelty factor.

    A little bit of background is in order here. ANA has a small (and I am sure suboptimal) fleet of only three A380s which they inherited from their acquisition of Skymark. They decided to dedicate these three jets to their Narita-Honolulu route and paint them in turtle liveries - one blue, one green, and one orange. I cannot imagine they are making a profit on these flights as the four engine A380 is expensive to operate and Tokyo-Honolulu is a leisure heavy route. Their utilization must also be poor as they have three aircraft dedicated to a twice daily service; I calculate their utilization per aircraft to be about 10 hours per day.

    Up until now, I had only flown once on the A380 (on Qantas) and I figured I should fly this A380 while I still could, as many airlines are retiring their A380 fleets prematurely due to poor operating economics.

    Arriving at HNL on Saturday, I spied my ride from a distance - I would be riding the blue turtle A380. The A380 is a very quiet and smooth ride, and I enjoyed my flight. I was pleasantly surprised to be served a very substantial meal with a main, an appetizer, salad, soba, fruit, ice cream, and a bread roll. In fact, I think this is the largest meal I have ever seen in Economy Class. Before arrival, we were served a snack box consisting of a tuna croissant, yoghurt, and a cookie. The flight was roughly 60% full in economy class.    Read more