Travel Jul. 12, 2008 - 05:04AM JST ( 8 )

TOKYO —

Japan Airlines (JAL) is to introduce its JAL Premium Economy cabin on four more Europe routes later this year. It will be the first time this new service appears on the airline’s Amsterdam and Moscow routes. The cabin will also be introduced on JAL flights serving between London and Osaka, and Paris and Nagoya.

From Oct 2, 2008 JAL Premium Economy will initially be available on three out of the seven flights a week offered by the airline between Amsterdam and Tokyo (JL411/ 412). The new cabin will be available on this route on a daily basis from Dec 6, 2008.

JAL Premium Economy will also be introduced for the first time on the Moscow–Tokyo (JL441/ 442) route. It will be available from Nov 29, 2008 on the three flights per week offered on the route.

The new cabin will be introduced on two other flights serving between Europe and Japan. To start with JAL Premium Economy will be available from Oct 1, 2008 on 3 flights per week on the London-Osaka (JL421/ 422) route, finally going daily from Nov 29. The daily service between Paris and Nagoya (JL437/ 438) will also receive the new service from Dec 6, 2008.

Tickets for the new cabin on these routes go on sale from July 17, 2008, except for the sale of tickets outside Japan of JAL Premium Economy on the Moscow route which begins the next day.

JAL Premium Economy was first introduced on the airline’s daily flight between London and Tokyo from Dec 1, 2007. The service is now also available on the airline’s daily flights between Frankfurt and Tokyo, and 11 flights per week between Paris and Tokyo.

JAL will also offer the service on the New York–Tokyo route (JL005/ 006 only ) on alternate days from Aug 1, 2008, going daily from Aug 11. This will be followed by the Tokyo-San Francisco route on Sept 13, 2008, and the Tokyo-Chicago and Los Angeles routes in FY2009, the year starting April 1, 2009.

Located in its own exclusive cabin area, JAL Premium Economy features the new JAL Sky Shell Seat. With 20% more legroom than available in economy class, the JAL Sky Shell Seat’s clever shell-shaped sliding seat-back design ensures that passengers’ private space is maintained throughout the flight, undisturbed even when the seat in front is reclined. For added comfort, this ergonomically designed seat comes fitted with a footrest and headrest.

Every seat comes with its own power outlet suitable for personal computers, and a seat tray that can easily accommodate a fully opened A-4 sized laptop. Passengers can enjoy the latest movies, music and games on their own personal 9-inch TV screen, using JAL’s state-of-the-art audio-visual-on-demand (AVOD) in-flight entertainment system.

In addition to the selection of food and drinks normally available on JAL’s economy class menu, passengers in JAL Premium Economy are also served other refreshments and snacks such as champagne, instant noodles and ice cream during their journey. Amenities provided in JAL Premium Economy are the same as those supplied in business class.

Seats are arranged in a 2-4-2 configuration on 777 aircraft. A total of 40 seats are available on routes JAL operates 777-200ER which include the Amsterdam and Moscow routes, as well as the London-Osaka and Paris–Nagoya routes. A total of 44 seats are available on routes JAL operates 777-300ER which includes the Tokyo to Frankfurt, London, and Paris routes, and will also include the New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco routes in due course.