ANA First Class The Suite on the 777-300ER — A 2026 Review

The first class boarding queue at Haneda’s Terminal 3 for NH9 to JFK forms at the dedicated first class door — a small, unmarked side entrance off the main premium-cabin boarding area, accessible only to the eight first class passengers and the operating crew. There is no signage, no priority lane marker; the boarding pass scan happens at a podium that is staffed only when an ANA first class flight is dispatching. On the night of my outbound, May 8, 2026, the queue was four passengers. The boarding agent took my boarding pass and my passport, scanned them at the podium, returned both, and walked me down a separate jetbridge that connects to door 1L on the 777-300ER.

This is the carrier’s deliberate framing of the first class experience: not a slightly-better business class, but a genuinely separate cabin product, with its own boarding sequence, its own dedicated catering kitchen, its own crew complement, and its own price point at approximately 3.5x the equivalent business class fare.

I flew NH9 Haneda-New York JFK on May 8, 2026 in seat 1A, on aircraft registration JA793A (one of the eight 777-300ER frames currently fitted with The Suite). The return — NH8 Narita-Haneda JFK on May 22, in seat 2K — was on JA796A. Both tickets were paid revenue, booked through ana.co.jp on the published F-class fare ladder, totalling JPY 4,840,000 round-trip (approximately USD 32,300 at the May 2026 exchange rate).

This is the 2026 review of ANA’s First Class The Suite — the carrier’s most committed premium cabin product, the most expensive seat on the ANA price ladder, and one of the few first class products in commercial aviation that has been substantively updated since 2019.

The Quick Answer

For the reader deciding whether to book ANA The Suite over the alternatives — JAL Sky Suite, Singapore Suites, Emirates First, Air France La Premiere, Lufthansa First, Korean Kosmo Suites — the comparison set is structurally narrow. There are only seven commercial first class products flying in 2026 (the named six plus a small Air China and a soon-to-retire British Airways First Class on the A380), and The Suite ranks in the top three on most evaluation criteria.

The Suite is the strongest first class catering programme of any non-Singapore carrier in 2026. The cabin appointments — the 43-inch Sony 4K screen, the closing door, the Globe-Trotter amenity kit, the Krug Grande Cuvee pour — are at the segment standard or above. The service quality is the best I have experienced in commercial first class in the past three years; the ANA “Inspiration of Japan” training programme produces a service style that combines Japanese hospitality structure with first-class attentiveness in a way that no other carrier matches.

The competitive set: I would book The Suite over JAL Sky Suite for catering and screen size, ahead of Emirates First Class on the 777 (better seat, better bed), behind Singapore Suites on the A380 (more enclosed, more iconic), behind Air France La Premiere (better lounge transfer experience), and ahead of Lufthansa First on the 747-8 (better hard product). The headline weakness is route coverage — only three city pairs (HND-JFK, NRT-JFK, HND-LHR) get The Suite as a daily operation, and the Houston, Washington, LAX, ORD, SFO, and SEA routes that some readers might assume are First-equipped are operated by 787-9 aircraft and have no first class.

Cabin Spec Sheet

The Suite is fitted to eight 777-300ER frames as of May 2026, in a 1-1-1 layout across rows 1 and 2 — eight suites total per aircraft. The layout has no centre column on the left side and no centre column on the right side; the cabin geometry is genuinely three suites per row with the centre suite at slightly offset positioning to maximise lateral space.

The seat platform is the Safran Aerospace Cirrus NG (next-generation) variant developed jointly by ANA and Safran for the 2019 launch of The Suite, customised by Acumen Design Associates with a specific Japanese-inspired cabin aesthetic. The configuration is:

Specification	The Suite (NH 777-300ER)
Layout	1-1-1 (three suites per row, two rows)
Seat width at shoulder	34 in (86 cm)
Seat width at armrest	27 in (69 cm)
Bed length	81 in (206 cm)
Pitch	80 in (203 cm) effective
Privacy door	Yes, sliding (full enclosure, 53 in tall)
Door ceiling gap	1 cm
Suite floor area	38 sq ft (3.5 sq m) per suite
IFE display	43 in 4K (Sony Bravia commercial)
Power	AC universal (110V, 200W), USB-A x3, USB-C 100W
Wireless charging	Yes (15W, Qi 1.3)
Bluetooth audio	Yes (5.3, with Sony WH-1000XM5 supplied)
Suites per cabin	8
Bedding	Frette dual-layer mattress, 280 GSM duvet, 4 pillows
Amenity kit	Globe-Trotter centenary case
Pyjamas	Toraya-branded two-piece (rotated quarterly with PJ-branded)
Champagne	Krug Grande Cuvee 170eme Edition

The 43-inch screen is the largest IFE display fitted to any commercial aircraft in 2026. The display is a Sony Bravia commercial-grade panel (the same product line Sony sells for hotel and conference-room installation), aviation-certified by Panasonic Avionics with a custom mount that allows the screen to be raised, lowered, and angled across a 30-degree adjustment range. The size is genuinely useful — at first class viewing distances (approximately 6 feet from seat to screen), the 43-inch display produces an immersive home-cinema viewing experience that is structurally different from the standard 18-22 inch business class screens.

The closing door spec is the most enclosed in commercial first class — the door is 53 inches tall, the ceiling gap is 1 cm (essentially closed), and the side walls of the suite extend to shoulder height on the seat-occupant side. The visual privacy when the door is closed is total; the only sight lines into the suite are through the suite-occupant-facing window (which can be electrochromically dimmed via the seat controls).

The Suite-by-Suite Walkthrough

The cabin runs two rows of three suites each, with the centre suite in row 1 (1D) and the centre suite in row 2 (2D) configured slightly differently from the window suites. The geometry is unusual for first class — most competitor first class cabins use a 1-2-1 layout with a centre pair, where The Suite uses a true 1-1-1 with single centre suites.

1A and 2A — The left-side window suites

The A-column suites are positioned on the left side of the cabin, with the suite window-facing wall against the aircraft’s port side. The suite is offset from the window by approximately 16 inches, with the side console running between the seat and the window. The console wraps around the seat shell from the front of the seat to the headrest level, and includes a wireless charging pad, a wardrobe with hanging space for a suit jacket, and a small refrigerator stocked with bottled water and a single cold-service Champagne split.

I sat in 1A on the outbound NH9. The suite is the most enclosed first class environment I have experienced in 2026; the side console, the headrest wrap, and the closing door produce a cabin experience that is genuinely room-like rather than seat-like. The window position is excellent for daylight viewing on the eastbound transpacific (which arrives at JFK in the late afternoon local time), and the electrochromic window dimming allows individual control independent of the cabin master setting.

1D and 2D — The centre suites

The centre suites are positioned along the centre column of the cabin, with the suite-occupant-facing wall running along the centre aisle. The geometry is a true single-occupant suite (no honeymoon pairing) — the centre suite is the same product as the window suites, with the only structural difference being the lack of a window-facing wall (the centre suite has solid walls on both sides). For a passenger who values the closed environment over the window access, the centre suites are genuinely a preference rather than a compromise.

The centre suite includes the same in-suite features as the window suites — the vanity mirror, the wardrobe, the wireless charging pad, the in-suite refrigerator. The visual privacy is marginally better than the window suites because the suite has no window-side sightline; the only access to the suite is through the closing door.

1K and 2K — The right-side window suites

The K-column suites mirror the A-column suites on the right side of the cabin. I sat in 2K on the return NH8. The configuration is identical to 1A and 2A in product, with the slight asymmetry that the 2K suite is closer to the rear galley curtain — which can produce some galley noise spillover during the meal service preparation. The 1A and 1K suites are the marginally quieter pair for sleep-focused passengers.

Bedding and Sleep Quality

The Frette-supplied bedding programme on The Suite is one of the most elaborate in commercial first class. The configuration is a 6 cm dual-layer mattress pad (a firmer base layer with a softer memory-foam top layer), a 280 GSM duvet (heavier than any business class duvet and heavier than most competitor first class duvets), and a four-pillow programme: two firm Down Etc.-supplied pillows, one softer Tempur-supplied pillow, and one Frette body pillow.

The pyjamas are the Toraya-branded two-piece (Toraya is the historic Japanese wagashi confectionery house, founded in Kyoto in 1586 — the brand collaboration reflects ANA’s positioning of The Suite as a culturally-rooted Japanese first class product rather than a generic Western luxury cabin). The pyjamas rotate quarterly with the older PJ-branded set; both are well-cut, properly weighted, and meaningfully better than the lightweight pyjamas that some competitor first class products fit.

The bedding ritual is the most elaborate I have experienced in commercial first class. On NH9, the senior flight attendant approached my suite approximately 90 minutes into the cruise and asked whether I would like the bed prepared. I accepted and stepped out to the in-flight bar (located between the first class and business class cabins on the 777-300ER); the conversion took approximately 6 minutes. The sequence was: seat reclined to bed mode, dual-layer mattress pad laid over the surface, fitted sheet placed over the mattress, duvet unfolded, four pillows positioned at the head, pyjamas and slippers (wool-lined Toraya-branded slippers) placed at the foot of the bed.

I slept approximately 10 hours on the eastbound NH9 (a 13-hour-30-minute flight), which is the strongest sleep I have logged on any commercial flight in 2026. The 81-inch bed length is the structural enabler — I am 173 cm and the bed length is generous, but my colleague who flew with me on a previous rotation (192 cm) reported similar uninterrupted sleep on the same bed configuration. The cabin temperature on both my flights was set at 19 degrees Celsius (cooler than my standard request); I adjusted via the suite controls to 21 degrees Celsius without issue, and the in-suite temperature management held the setting within a 1-degree variance for the full sleep window.

Catering: The Kaiseki Programme, the Western Menu, and the Krug Pour

The catering programme on The Suite is the highest-investment first class catering operation outside of Singapore Airlines, and the structural quality reflects the spend. The programme is built around two parallel menus — a Japanese kaiseki menu and a Western menu — with both available on every flight, both pre-orderable through ANA’s Sky Kitchen platform (available 24 hours to 21 days before departure, with the longer first-class window versus the 14-day business class window).

The kaiseki menu

The Japanese menu on The Suite is structured as a nine-course kaiseki progression (compared to the seven-course business-class kaiseki), with the additional courses being a separate amuse bouche and a tea-ceremony-derived final sweet course. As detailed in PaxEx.aero’s December 2025 deep-dive on ANA’s first class catering kitchens, the courses on the NH9 outbound rotation are:

1. Sakizuke (amuse bouche): a single-bite preparation of either uni on a shiso leaf or ankimo (monkfish liver) with a yuzu glaze.
2. Hassun (seasonal opener): a presentation plate of 6-8 small items reflecting the current season — on my May rotation, the plate included grilled bamboo shoots, a salted cherry blossom with a young sardine, a chrysanthemum-leaf and white miso preparation, and a small chawanmushi with hamaguri clam.
3. Mukozuke (sashimi): a four-piece sashimi presentation with hon-maguro (bluefin tuna), kanpachi (amberjack), tai (sea bream), and ika (squid), served with fresh wasabi (not the tube paste that some competitor carriers serve).
4. Wanmono (clear soup): a kelp-and-bonito dashi with seasonal vegetables and a small piece of either fish or duck.
5. Yakimono (grilled course): on the May rotation, a black cod (gindara) saikyo-yaki — marinated for 72 hours in white miso, mirin, and sake before grilling.
6. Takiawase (simmered course): a seasonal vegetable preparation in a dashi-soy reduction, typically including taro, daikon, and either eggplant or burdock root.
7. Shokuji (rice course): a steamed rice with seasonal accompaniments (chestnut rice in autumn, takenoko rice in spring, mushroom rice in winter), served with miso soup and pickled vegetables.
8. Caviar service: Calvisius Oscietra Royal at 30g per portion, served with blini, sour cream, chopped egg, and chives. Paired with the Krug Grande Cuvee 170eme Edition.
9. Mizugashi (dessert): a Toraya yokan (sweet bean confection) presentation, with seasonal fruit and a tea-ceremony-derived matcha service.

The execution quality on the kaiseki menu is genuinely at the level of a high-end Tokyo restaurant. The grilled course (the saikyo-yaki gindara) was the standout dish — the fish was flaky, the miso glaze was properly caramelised, and the temperature management was perfect. The caviar service was excellent; the Oscietra Royal is a meaningfully better caviar than the standard airline-service caviar, and the pairing with the Krug was genuinely thought-through.

The Western menu

The Western menu on the NH9 outbound was a three-course progression: a smoked Hokkaido salmon with caper and shallot; a kuroge wagyu sirloin (the Aragawa-method preparation referenced in the FAQ — a 72-hour dry-age, charcoal-grilled to medium-rare, served with truffle jus and a potato gratin); and a Valrhona chocolate dessert with raspberry coulis.

The Aragawa method on the wagyu is the cabin chef’s specific training reference — ANA’s first class catering kitchen at Haneda includes a head chef who trained at Aragawa (the Tokyo steakhouse founded in 1967 and famous for its A5 wagyu preparation) and the kuroge wagyu preparation on the LHR and FRA rotations follows the Aragawa methodology of low-temperature charcoal grilling. The result is genuinely the best beef preparation I have eaten on a commercial aircraft in 2026.

The Krug pour

The Champagne pour on The Suite is the Krug Grande Cuvee 170eme Edition — the current release (as of 2025-2026 rotation) of Krug’s flagship non-vintage blend. The pour is generous and unlimited; the senior flight attendant offered top-ups proactively throughout the meal service, and the catering kitchen at Haneda stocks the aircraft with adequate quantity for the eight-passenger cabin’s full consumption capacity.

Krug Grande Cuvee is the second-best Champagne pour in commercial first class in 2026 (behind only Air France La Premiere’s Krug Vintage pour, which is a higher-tier Krug expression). The pour is structurally superior to the Dom Perignon that Emirates pours, the Salon that JAL pours on rotation, and the Bollinger that Singapore Suites pours.

The Globe-Trotter Amenity Kit

The amenity kit on The Suite is the carrier’s most substantial soft-product investment outside of catering. The kit is a Globe-Trotter centenary case — a miniaturised version of the iconic British luxury luggage brand’s flagship case, designed in collaboration with FORMIA (the airline amenities specialist) and rotated quarterly across three colourway variants. My outbound NH9 kit was the navy-and-cream variant; the return NH8 kit was the burgundy-and-cream variant.

The kit contents include: a dental kit (Marvis-branded toothpaste, a soft-bristle toothbrush, and a small mouthwash); ear plugs (silicone, properly-fitted); an eye mask (silk-lined, weighted at the brow); and a trio of skincare items from The Ginza (the Japanese luxury skincare house owned by Shiseido) — a cleansing foam, a hydrating essence, and a recovery cream.

The Globe-Trotter case itself is genuinely keepsake-quality; the case is hand-built at Globe-Trotter’s Hertfordshire factory using the same vulcanised fibreboard process the brand uses for its full-size luggage, and the cases are sold separately at the Globe-Trotter UK retail outlets at approximately GBP 220 each. As a take-home amenity kit, the value is at the segment-leading end of the first class market, comparable to the Rimowa-style amenity cases that some competitor carriers have phased out and ahead of the Salvatore Ferragamo or Bottega Veneta kits that lower-tier first class cabins fit.

In-Flight Entertainment, Connectivity, and Power

The 43-inch Sony 4K screen is the largest IFE display in commercial aviation in 2026. The display is paired with Sony WH-1000XM5 noise-cancelling headphones (the current generation, succeeding the WH-1000XM4 that ANA fitted in 2022-2024). The Bluetooth pairing is excellent — first-time connection on both flights, and the headphone integration with the IFE is seamless.

The content library is approximately 2,400 hours, with substantive Japanese-language libraries (NHK programming, Japanese films, anime) plus the standard Hollywood, world cinema, and box-set TV libraries. The content quality is at the segment leading edge; ANA’s content licensing programme includes early-release film content (typically 60-90 days behind theatrical release, ahead of the streaming release window) that is not universally available on competitor carriers.

Connectivity is via Panasonic eXConnect Ku-band, and the throughput on both my flights was approximately 15-25 Mbps — strong but not best-in-class (Air New Zealand’s GX Aviation Ka-band throughput is faster). The first class connectivity package is complimentary and unlimited.

Power: one universal AC outlet (110V, 200W — substantially higher than the 100W standard, allowing simultaneous laptop charging and tablet charging from a single outlet), three USB-A ports, one USB-C 100W port, and a 15W Qi wireless charging pad in the side console. The 200W AC outlet is the strongest power specification in commercial first class in 2026.

The Service Question

The ANA “Inspiration of Japan” service programme is the institutional foundation for what is consistently the best in-flight service of any non-Singapore commercial first class operation in 2026. The flight attendant training programme at the Narita academy runs eight months for first class crew (the longest training cycle of any commercial first class operation), includes mandatory rotations through the catering kitchen, the lounge operations, and a specific service-philosophy curriculum that emphasises “anticipation without intrusion” — a service style that produces an unusually attentive but unobtrusive cabin experience.

On NH9, the senior flight attendant in first class was a 14-year ANA veteran with prior experience on the previous-generation first class product (the pre-2019 “First Square” cabin). The service style was warm, attentive, and consistently appropriate — meal service ran 95 minutes from drink offer to dessert clearance (slower than business class, deliberately so), the bed turndown was offered proactively, the pre-arrival breakfast was served at the timing I requested, and the customs-and-immigration paperwork was offered with a specific JFK-arrival briefing.

The service detail that distinguished the outbound from a merely-competent first class operation was the kaiseki narration. The senior flight attendant brought a printed kaiseki card to my seat at the start of the meal service, walked me through the nine courses with brief descriptions of the seasonal sourcing, and offered the option of either Japanese-style narration (with each course introduced individually) or Western-style service (with the courses brought as a sequence without individual narration). I selected Japanese-style narration on the outbound and Western-style on the return, and the cabin crew managed both with equal competence.

On NH8 (the return), the senior crew was differently competent. The service was warm and attentive, but the kaiseki narration was less detailed, and the meal pacing was slightly faster (75 minutes total). The bed turndown was excellent on both flights; the in-suite vanity service (including a hot towel, a face mist, and a toothbrush-and-mouthwash refresh before sleep) was offered proactively on both rotations.

The Verdict

ANA’s The Suite on the 777-300ER is, in my assessment, the best commercial first class product flying in 2026 outside of Singapore Suites on the A380. The cabin appointments — the 43-inch Sony screen, the closing door, the Globe-Trotter amenity kit, the Krug Grande Cuvee pour — are at or above the segment standard. The bed and bedding programme is the most elaborate in commercial first class. The catering is genuinely at the level of a high-end Tokyo restaurant, with both the kaiseki and the Western menu executing at a quality that no competitor first class operation matches outside of Singapore.

The headline weakness is route coverage. The Suite is fitted to only 8 of ANA’s 13 777-300ER frames, and the routes that get The Suite as a daily operation are limited to HND-JFK, NRT-JFK, and HND-LHR. The US transpacific routes that some readers might assume are first-class equipped (Houston, Washington Dulles, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle) are operated by 787-9 aircraft and have no first class. For a US-based traveller seeking The Suite for a transpacific routing, the practical answer is to fly into or out of either JFK on NH8/NH9, or to connect via JFK from another US city pair.

For the comparison set: The Suite is materially better than JAL Sky Suite first class on hard product and slightly behind on cabin sociability for couples. It is materially better than Emirates First on the 777, comparable to Lufthansa First on the 747-8 on hard product (and ahead on catering), and behind Singapore Suites on the A380 on absolute cabin design. The Suite remains, as it has since the 2019 launch, the most committed commercial first class product Japan has flown.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which routes operate ANA The Suite first class in 2026? As of May 2026, ANA operates The Suite first class on the 777-300ER on three city pairs: HND-JFK (NH109/NH110 daily), NRT-JFK (NH8/NH9 daily), and HND-LHR (NH211/NH212 daily). The Suite-equipped 777-300ER also operates seasonally on NRT-FRA and NRT-LAX during peak demand periods. Houston, Washington Dulles, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, and Seattle are operated by 787-9 aircraft, which do not have first class. The Suite is fitted to only 8 of ANA’s 13 777-300ER frames.

How does ANA The Suite compare to JAL Sky Suite first class? Three substantive differences: The Suite has a full closing sliding door (53 inches tall, 1 cm ceiling gap) where Sky Suite is doorless; The Suite has a 43-inch Sony 4K display where Sky Suite has a 32-inch screen; The Suite is 1-1-1 with 8 suites per aircraft, where Sky Suite is 1-2-1 with 8 suites and a centre pair honeymoon configuration. The catering programmes are roughly comparable in quality; ANA’s Champagne pour (Krug Grande Cuvee) is meaningfully better than JAL’s on absolute quality. The Suite is the marginally stronger first class product; Sky Suite has the slight edge on cabin sociability for couples.

Is the caviar service actually substantive on ANA The Suite? Yes, and it is one of the strongest caviar services in commercial first class in 2026. The catering programme uses Oscietra caviar sourced from Calvisius (the Italian sturgeon farm) at 30g per portion with blini, sour cream, chopped egg, and chives. ANA’s caviar specification is the Oscietra Royal grade — the supplier’s mid-upper tier. The reference to Aragawa specifically applies to ANA’s Western menu beef preparation on the LHR and FRA rotations, where the cabin chef-trained kitchen executes a kuroge wagyu sirloin based on the Aragawa method, not to the caviar service.

How does the bed compare to The Room business class? The Suite bed is approximately 6 inches longer (81 inches versus 78 inches), 6 inches wider at the shoulder (34 inches versus the equivalent business class shoulder measurement on the staggered Room geometry), and substantially better-bedded. The mattress pad on The Suite is a 6 cm Frette-supplied dual-layer pad versus the 4 cm pad on The Room. The pillow programme is also different: The Suite gets a four-pillow configuration versus two pillows in business. The cabin temperature management is independent for the eight first class suites versus the cabin-zone management for business; you can request a specific temperature within a 4-degree range.

Related on the journal. ANA ‘The Room’: Why It’s Still Long-Haul Business Class’s Bar in 2026 · Air China Forbidden Pavilion First Class: Is It Still in the Conversation in 2026? · Cathay Pacific Aria Suite: Long-Form Review of the New 777-300ER Business Class · Air France La Première First Class on the 777-300ER — A 2026 Review