Japan Airlines’ ZIPAIR Plans Huge Expansion, Fleet Of 20 Boeing 787s

Japan Airlines has announced plans to greatly expand its low cost subsidiary, ZIPAIR. This also sheds some light on Japan Airlines’ recently fleet renewal announcement.

ZIPAIR acquiring 787-9s, expanding fleet to 20 Dreamliners

ZIPAIR is Japan Airlines’ low cost carrier, which launched operations in 2020. The airline operates out of Tokyo Narita (NRT), serving both short and long haul routes. In some cases the airline replicates Japan Airlines’ network, while going after a different passenger profile. Destinations are as close as Seoul Incheon (ICN), and as far as Houston (IAH),

Currently, ZIPAIR’s fleet consists of eight Boeing 787-8s, and we’ve known up until now that the airline planned to have a total of 10 of these. There’s now a major update — ZIPAIR plans to double its fleet, and fly 10 additional Boeing 787s.

Not only that, but those 10 additional planes will the 787-9 variant, which is larger than the existing 787-8 variant. In other words, ZIPAIR’s capacity will more than double. The remaining two 787-8s are expected to be delivered by 2026, and then the 10 787-9s will be delivered between 2027 and the early 2030s.

While the 787-8s boast 290 seats, it hasn’t yet been revealed how many seats the 787-9s will have, though presumably they’ll haver well over 300.

I’ve reviewed the ZIPAIR experience, and it’s kind of fascinating. The airline doesn’t have any personal TVs onboard, but instead has free Wi-Fi for all passengers. Furthermore, the airline has reverse herringbone seats at the front of the cabin, which are marketed as “Full Flat.” These offer a lot more space, but don’t offer any extra services. In terms of inflight service, ZIPAIR tickets include absolutely nothing, other than the seat and the privilege of using the bathroom.