Avis du vol entre Seoul et Tokyo en classe Economique avec Japan Airlines

With the break nearing the end and having nothing else to do, I went on a "last hurrah" type of trip to Tokyo. I only booked this flight two days in advance, just because I felt like I wanted to go somewhere else before going on my final final trip to China at the end of February.

My routine for booking a flight is first going through Google Flights to get an overall feel for the prices and generally how all the airlines compare at a glance, and then booking through the official website if the price doesn't differ too much from third parties. I booked this trip through a third party though, as it was about 40,000KRW cheaper than the official website, but more importantly, there were payment issues when I tried to book through the official website. Overall, the experience wasn't bad at all. The links provided were all working good and the booking was linked seamlessly to the official website, so in the end I ended up saving the 40,000KRW.

JAL, or the third party, I should say, provided a good offer of 480,000KRW for this round trip flight between GMP and HND. Considering just how late I booked the flight, and how ungodly the prices for the ICN-NRT routes were, it was basically a no-brainer to book this flight. Even if I booked the flight about 6 months in advance, the prices wouldn't go below about 430,000KRW, so I'd say it was a pretty good offer. Also was pretty thrilled to fly on the JAL 77Ws before they all retire.

The SEL-TYO route

There are two main options when travelling between Seoul and Tokyo.
1. ICN-NRT
This is the main route between the two cities. They are both pretty far away from the respective cities, so they tend to be cheaper than the other options. ICN is about an hour to an hour and a half train ride away from the city center, and NRT is also about an hour away from the city. All of the Korean Low Costs have at least one daily flight and it is the quintessential international route from ICN. A new airline from Korea would not be complete without a route to NRT. The most recent Korean airline, Parata Air, operates this route daily with their ex-National A330-200. Do note, both ANA and JAL axed their ICN routes about 11 years ago, due to their market share being cut by the rise of LCCs with the likes of Jeju Air. We used to be able to see 747s from both ANA and JAL fly in and out of ICN, but it's now long gone to the past.
2. GMP-HND
This is the money maker for the airlines. Lots of businessmen, businesswomen and celebrities use this route due to the fantastic proximity to the city center for both airports. GMP in particular is about 25 minutes away from Gangnam via the Line 9 express trains. Only four airlines operate this route (KE, OZ, JL, NH) and this route is heavily regulated with just 3 flights per day allocated to each airline. With the merger, it was questioned which airline would get OZ's slots, but as of writing, T'way seems to be the frontrunner.

Tickets for the latter could cost up to twice as much as the former route. Korean people call the ICN-NRT route 인리타 (InRita - INcheon and naRITA), and the GMP-HND route 김네다 (GimNeda - GIMpo and haNEDA). The regular consensus is that the price for the GimNeda route is justifiable if it was about 100,000KRW more expensive, due to just how comfortable it is compared to InRita. If you take away the Narita Skyliner or the limousine bus ticket prices out, then the gap closes even more.

3. ICN-HND
This is the middle point from both routes, with one airport being far away (ICN), and one airport being close (HND). However, due to the slot compromises in HND, this route is only operated as a redeye. Asiana, Korean, and Peach fly this route, but the prices do not justify the redeye, even if it did fly to and from HND, in my humble opinion.

This is the GMP-HND route schedule for February 9th 2026. As you can see, there are three flights from each airline, all departing around the same time.

My flight today would be on the 767, on the 'Sky Wider' economy seats.

Typing in the reservation number allowed me to look at my booking through the official JAL app. It worked all good as if I booked through the official web.

The menu was also available through the app.

Before I headed out, I checked the schedule for today. Our flight would be operated by JA607J, a 23-year-old 767. However, the cabin did go through a refurbishment so it wouldn't show its age there.

Also the flight plan for today. If you're going to HND from GMP, be sure to sit on the left side to get a nice view of mount Fuji.

Online check in was also available, but I didn't check in as I already had selected my seat and I wanted to get a nice boarding pass, and not those flimsy ones you get from the kiosks.

I took the subway to the airport. When you arrive at the station, you just have to follow the signs to the terminal. Do keep in mind, the walking distances between the subway station and the terminals are not to be ignored, as it is a workaround to the existing old terminal. A walk to each terminals takes about 10 minutes.

I remember GMP has the record for the longest moving walkway in the world. Not sure if it's something to be proud of.

There were four separate lines; First, Business, Online Check In, and Economy. I went to the Economy line, which had no queue at all.

I got my bag checked in in no time. I got my boarding pass and everything in 15 minutes after arriving at the airport. This was about 2 hours before the departure time, so I don't know where everyone was. I think they are all pretty accustomed to the laid back nature of the GMP-HND flight. Honestly, after being on two flights between GMP and HND, it felt like I was in a different tax bracket with all the passengers being smartly dressed.

Nearly all the flights are bound for HND. There is a distance limit on all international flights from GMP to divert the demand towards ICN, so the longest flight is to TSA, I believe. There's also flights to SHA and PEK.

I got my boarding pass, which was just a plain black and white design, just like their livery. 

The departure hall at GMP. A very small airport, which is understandable since this has been serving as the international airport for about 80 years now. Of course, it has been through some renovations.

The whole process from arriving at the airport to getting airside only took about 30 minutes. Definitely think you could have time for some duty free shopping even arriving 90 minutes before. The perks of going through GMP and not the mess that is ICN.

Our flight was allocated gate 40. Currently, gate 38 and 39 are both under construction, so the chances of getting a bus gate has increased. Also, I had a look through the whole terminal, but couldn't find any gate that allowed for a good view of the apron apart from this gate and gate 39. I considered myself very lucky for that.

KE has a codeshare agreement with JL, while OZ has it with NH.

JAL utilize a pretty well-organized boarding group system. Everyone seemed to know what it was, and they all followed suit. Again, I got to say, this would be pretty unimaginable at ICN.

This is the view from seat 50K. You can see the registration on the wing. This is also present on Korean HL-registered aircraft. Also, the massive 767 winglets seemed even bigger in real life than in the pictures. Wish they'd painted the winglets as well, but it is what it is.

A pair of headphones were provided at every seat. 

The safety video was played as we pushed back. It was shown twice, once in Japanese with Japanese subtitles, and once in English with Korean subtitles.

We pushed back a long way before lining up on the taxiway, due to construction blocking all of the right side of the plane.

This was the view from my seat. Pretty aged IFE system and a remote control were available for use. 

The flight map system. I remember seeing this system elsewhere, but I can't quite put my finger on it. It probably was on Lufthansa's A340-600.

We took off from runway 32R after about 15 minutes of taxiing. As it was a night flight and the cabin wasn't dimmed too much, it was pretty hard to get a good view with all the reflection and the darkness.

After taking off from 32R, we bank left to head southeast bound for HND. During the turn, we can get a good view of ICN. As it was pretty dark, this was the best view I could get.

I listened to TWICE's ENEMY album as I waited for the meal service.

The headphones were good considering they were provided for Economy class, but I'd still much rather get a pair of earplugs.

The safety card had a nice drawing of the 767 that we were on, albeit without winglets.

After takeoff, a little video was shown cautioning turbulence in flight. The crew also said turbulence would be a factor through the PA, but it ended up not being too bad.

I tried watching Exit 8, but ended up giving up on it about 30 minutes after. As it is a Japanese airline, it had lots of Japanese shows and movies, but the English options were there, I think enough for a trans-pacific flight.

Our (cold) meal, the rigatoni with hamburger steak was served. 
A few years ago, JAL made the very controversial decision to downgrade their meal service from a hot meal to a cold one. The said cold meal looked to have a sandwich and some drink. However, they seemed to have upgraded the service to a meal box.
I also got myself some red wine as it was a night flight arriving well past 9PM.
The crew seemed to have a bit of a hard time understanding and speaking English, but it wasn't too big of a deal. I had to clarify myself a few times and they understood all okay.

The rigatoni was pretty cold, and the hamburger steak even colder. The hamburger steak was the biggest letdown in this meal. It was so cold that I had to stick a fork in it and bite it out every time. But, I was pretty satisfied with the overall quality of the meal, but not the contents. I would've liked a dessert to come with the meal, but I guess this is the downside of a meal box. 

The view of the cabin after the meal service had ended. The 2-3-2 configuration was very comfortable to be in. I feel like I've been on enough flights to be able to feel the differences in legroom or the width, and this flight was brilliant in that respect. I'd say they're definitely deserving of the 'Sky Wider' title.

The contents of the seatback pockets. There was wifi available, but I didn't bother to look into it. Also, as it is a Japanese magazine, they all are read from right to left, so the hinge is on the RIGHT side when you're facing the cover.

Also, the whole cabin had the design that the 777s have, with the overhead bins. I don't know if this came from the factory or if it's modified, but it was bewildering seeing this type of cabin on a 2003-built 767 but seeing the terribly aged cabin on the 1999-built Asiana 767.

One great thing about the system, which I've never seen before, is the option to show the flight map on the corner of the screen while you're watching another show. This definitely satisfied all of my needs when it came to the IFE. This type of multitasking was only allowed on the Emirates ICE system, where the remote control had a little screen not only for the controls, but also to show the inflight map.

We had made a lot of progress and were already in descent into HND.

The crew turned off the cabin lights completely for landing, so I was able to (try to) get some pictures of the scenery.

This was my best shot of the flight. If you're sat on the left side though, I think a little glance at the city is possible on approach.

We touched down on time at HND on runway 34L.

We parked at spot 148 next to an Air France 777.

Final look at the cabin before deboarding.

This was 50K, my seat for this flight. I was luckily able to grab this seat just before the flight, with a perfect window placement and a great wing view, although it didn't matter for most of the flight.

Nice engraving of the JAL logo on the headrest covers.

This was the cabin, and you can see just how wide the seats actually are, definitely deserving of the 'Sky Wider' name. This definitely was the widest Economy class seats I've been on, and I wouldn't hesitate to use this product for a flight to YVR.

There's also a mini Economy cabin between the over-wing exits and the Business class section.

This is the Business class cabin, consisting of seats in a staggered 1-2-1 configuration. Like the Economy class product, it seemed pretty good apart from the IFE system looking pretty dated.

View from the air bridge, with the engine and the massive winglets.

I followed the signs to the arrivals. Turns out, spot 148 is pretty far away from the rest of the terminal. So I had to walk for another 10 minutes.

The immigration was pretty chaotic, with lots of flights coming in. There were helpers all around though, so it was pretty straightforward.

Another 10 minutes were spent waiting for my bag. All in all, it took me 30 minutes from deplaning to getting my Suica at the kiosks.

I then took the subway to the city.