Review - All Nippon Airways ANA Business Class B787-8 Shanghai Pudong to Tokyo Haneda

NH968 PVG-HND

March 23rd, 2025

Check-in:

I flew with ANA many years ago from Chengdu to Narita. Unfortunately, that flight never returned after the pandemic. However, it appears that ANA’s Shanghai service is rather healthy, with 5 daily frequencies to Japan from Pudong alone. I booked this flight the day before departure, and the cash fare would’ve cost over $2,000. I was able to redeem miles for it, although only United MileagePlus had availability. At the price of 45,000 United miles plus taxes, it was definitely one of the less inspirational redemptions. I arrived at Pudong three hours before departure, and there was already a huge queue at the check-in counters, thanks to how many elite members Japanese airlines have.

15 minutes later I was all checked in. I was surprised that they were able to through-check my suitcase all the way to Chicago, even though my next flight was operated by JAL. I was also impressed by how Japanese airlines consistently maintain their service standards at outstations. For my flight, there was even a porter whose sole responsibility was to help people lay their luggage onto the conveyor belt neatly.

Lounge:

ANA is in the Star Alliance, so the default lounge for ANA passengers was the Air China Lounge. I’ve been there a bunch of times, so I wanted to switch it up. Conveniently, a Juneyao Air lounge was nearby, so I accessed that via Priority Pass.

Boarding:

Much like the JAL regional B787s, ANA also chose the cradle seats. Ultimately, these seats are exclusively for flights within East Asia. The medium-haul flights will most likely feature ANA’s staggered lie-flat seats.

All Nippon Airways ANA B787-8 Business Class Cabin

While our flight time from Shanghai to Tokyo was just a hair over two hours, the schedule of this specific flight made it particularly brutal. We departed at 2:10 AM and arrived shortly past 5AM.

On a random note, ANA’s boarding music - Another Sky, is my absolute favorite. It perfectly imparts the complex and delicate emotions and romanticism associated with travel. The violin solo starts low and gentle, as you embark on a new journey with slight apprehension for the unknown. The composition crescendos as the orchestra comes in to transition any lingering irresolution into unfettered hopefulness. You must give it a listen if you haven’t flown with ANA yet.

All Nippon Airways ANA B787-8 Business Class Seat

Customary on Japanese airlines, no pre-departure drink was offered in business class. I don’t really know the logic behind this, but it is what it is. The flight attendant did stop by to greet me and introduce herself. She also took my meal order. The menu reads as follows:

Soon enough we were ready for pushback. A Pokémon-themed safety video was screened. I don’t get anime personally, but I also was never bullied in school so… Just kidding!

Due to the massive size of Pudong Airport, our taxi took almost 30 minutes.

Inflight:

It was yet another 30 minutes until the seatbelt sign was turned off, which was common for Japanese airlines. I checked out the inflight wifi during this time. Interestingly, ANA emailed me the wifi voucher code the day before the flight. The wifi was provided by Panasonic, but the speeds were faster than any Panasonic wifi I’d experienced. I was able to download my Spotify “Discover Weekly” playlist in seconds.

I received an invoice after connecting to the wifi. $21.95 is undoubtedly on the steeper side for a two-hour flight… Maybe that’s why my wifi was so fast.

You could see how close Shanghai is to Japan from the flight map. I feel like if I lived in Shanghai, I’d be going to Japan every weekend, Now that I think about it, I do see Instagram stories of my Shanghai friends in Japan all the time.

A quick dinner was served an hour into the flight. I wasn’t hungry at all, but I figured if I didn’t get something, this review would have nothing to show for.

All Nippon Airways ANA Business Class Dinner PVG-HND

The starter plate consisted of several small bites, including Japanese omelet, salt-grilled salmon, chicken and french bean roll and marinated spinach in soy sauce. There was another shrimp salad-esq amuse-bouche with spicy fish roe. The main course for March was braised pork belly with steamed rice. Alongside everything was a miso soup. I love how ANA published the calories on the menu, as if we all don’t know that calories in the air aren’t real 🤪.

To drink, I had ANA’s original aromatic kabosu - a honey yuzu lemonade concoction. Overall, it was a very tasty meal. My only criticism was the dessert, which was a convenience store mochi.

I rushed to catch some shut-eye after the meal service. Living up to the thoughtful Japanese reputation, the flight attendant only woke me as we were descending below 9,000 feet. On other airlines, you would’ve have been woken up as the aircraft commences the initial descent, at 30,000+ feet. We were treated to a gorgeous sunrise and a gloriously clear day in Tokyo.

On Arrival:

On our way to the gate, we passed some decent plane-spotting, such as the Air Do B767 in what I presume was another Pokémon livery.

As well as this old ANA training B737-500.

Haneda Airport is kind of known for its viewing deck, and aviation culture is quite widespread in Japan. Still, I was amazed to see so many AvGeeks at 5am already.

For such a short redeye flight, there isn’t a whole lot to review. The food and service were both what you’d expect from a Japanese airline. I can’t believe I haven’t flown on ANA long-haul. Gotta do something about that…

From there, I headed to the JAL First Class Lounge, prior to my incredible JAL first class flight to Chicago.

Review - All Nippon Airways ANA Business Class B787-8 Shanghai Pudong to Tokyo Haneda

NH968 PVG-HND

March 23rd, 2025

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