Flight Review Qantas QF26 Haneda Tokyo to Sydney Business Class

Airline: Qantas
Flight number: QF26
Flight class: Business Class
Aircraft type: Boeing B747-400
Seat type: Lay flat bed
Seat Width: 21.5 inches
Seat Pitch: 80 inches

Qantas retired their entire fleet of B747-400s in 2020. This route between Tokyo and Sydney is now operated by their Boeing B787-9s.

Check out the full flight review video for this Qantas Haneda Tokyo to Sydney flight

At the airport: Haneda Tokyo International Airport is closer to the centre of Tokyo than the older Narita airport. You can get to Haneda airport by taxi within around 30 minutes from Tokyo city centre. The trip in is mostly on an underground expressway. Most taxis have a fixed price of 7830 Yen to get to and from Haneda airport. It is best to get your hotel to book a taxi which applies this fixed price. I jumped in the first taxi at my hotel and found by surprise when we arrived at Haneda they didn’t apply the fixed price. The cost of my taxi ride was 9900 Yen!

Haneda is a massive airport with around 200 departure gates. There are loads of shopping and food at the airport. Before you go through customs, take the escalators to the top floor and you find a replica of a traditional Japanese village with is lined with souvenir stores and restaurants serving a range of traditional Japanese food.

Walk out to the back and there is a huge observation deck where you can see one of the runways (Haneda has 4 runways) and many of the planes parked at the departure gates. Right next to the observation deck is an area which has 3 large flight simulators open to the public to use at a cost.

The Business Class Lounge: There is no Qantas Club Lounge at Haneda Airport so Qantas passengers can use the Japan Airlines Business Lounge. As a Platinum Qantas Frequent Flyer I also get to use the Japan Airlines Sakura First Class lounge which is very nice. There is loads of food and 2 chefs onsite cooking freshly prepared meals. Every time I come to this lounge I just have some of the delicious Japanese beef curry with rice.

Inside the plane:

The seat: When I booked my flight I requested a seat in the business section in the upstairs cabin. This is my preferred place to sit. The day before my flight I checked my booking and they had moved me to the pointy end of the plane downstairs. This section is reserved for Qantas high tier frequent flyers as the seats in this section have been upgraded to the same business class seats as they use in the Qantas A380 planes. The seats are much better in this section but they had given me the seat 3F which is in the middle, not in my preferred window seat.

I choose to find a seat next to the window and the only one I could find was in the very last row of the downstairs business class section, seat 26A. I was happy to be next to the window but soon found I had done myself a mis-service. When I reclined the seat back I found that the seats back there do not recline fully flat. As the bottom of the seat tucks under the seat in front, the bed is on a slant down so you constantly wake up feeling yourself slide down the seat. While I was trying to sleep I cursed myself thinking I really should have accepted that 3F seat and got some decent sleep!

After take-off they fit the seat with a thin mattress which makes the seat so much more comfortable to sleep on.

The Entertainment: The TV screen is built into the back of the seat in front. The small 11.2” touch  screen is a bit small but still good enough to watch and enjoy any of the hundreds of TV shows and movies.

You also get a set of noise canceling head phones. Even when not watching a movie, it is good to wear the headphones which cuts out alot of the engine noise.

The Food: On this flight the main meal selection included a selection of cheese served with accompaniments, Stir fried mushrooms with tofu, yakisoba noodles and cucumber, Tuna tataki with edamame, daikon, ginger and a shalot dressing, Big bowl of of chicken ramen with soy egg, bamboo sprouts, and spring onions, Seared sea bream with sweet carrot puree, harissa and broccolini and a Japanese rice parcel. I had already had a snack in the First Class lounge before the flight so after take-off I didn’t want a full meal so went for the very tasty pulled pork sandwich with pickled red onions. It was only a small roll and a bit greasy but very tasty.

For dessert I had the Yuzu custard with almond biscuit and a glass of some very tasty Australian dessert wine.

I must admit the food on Qantas flights has gotten better. The last few years I was always disappointed with the Qantas food but on this flight and the origin flight from Sydney to Tokyo I really enjoyed the food (see the review of the Qantas QF25 Sydney to Haneda Tokyo flight)

For breakfast the menu had Orange juice, Apple Juice, Berry Energizer, the fruit salad with yoghurt, Brookfarm macadamia toasted muesli with cranberries or Baked eggs with mushrooms, pancetta and slow roasted cherry tomatoes. I ended up just having the fruit salad with yoghurt and a cup of coffee. I have always found these breakfasts to be a bit dry. Maybe I should try this again on my next flight to see if they have improved too.

Now they didn’t offer me any of the orange juice, apple juice or Berry Energizer and I was too tired eating my fruit salad to try to get their attention to get a glass.

The service: I’ve never had a problem with the service on the Qantas flights. This flight was no exception. Even sitting back in row 26 the air hostess that served me always greeted me by my name.