Taking delivery of the first of its 31 A350 aircraft, Japan Airlines says it will deploy the 239-passenger aircraft on flights from Tokyo to New York.

Japan’s national carrier, Japan Airlines (JAL) has taken delivery of the first A350-1000 from Airbus’ delivery centre in Toulouse, France. The 

A350-1000 is set to become the oneworld member carrier’s new long-haul flagship aircraft, initially flying on the Tokyo Haneda – New York JFK route, followed by Dallas.

JAL says that its A350-1000s are configured in four classes, with accommodation for six in first class, 54 in business, 24 in premium economy and 155 seats in standard economy class.

In all, JAL has ordered 31 A350 aircraft, comprising 18 A350-900s and 13 A350-1000s. The carrier has been operating the A350-900 on high density Japanese domestic routes since 2019.

The new-technology A350-1000 will eventually replace the carrier’s Boeing 777-300ER fleet on routes also including London’s Heathrow and Paris.

By the end of November 2023, the A350 family of aircraft had won 1,070 firm orders from 57 airline customers worldwide. Separately, JAL earlier this year placed a firm order for 21 Boeing 737 Max aircraft from the Airbus rival now headquartered in Virginia in the United States. These will replace the airline’s 737-800 fleet and complement 46 widebody 787 family aircraft on regional routes.