When Japan’s All Nippon Airways first unveiled its next-generation Boeing 787 seats back in 2025, one product immediately piqued our attention: The Room FX (stylised as ‘THE Room FX’).
Designed as the successor to ANA’s “The Room” Business Class on the Boeing 777-300ER, the new suite promises to bring a similarly spacious experience to the smaller Boeing 787-9 from 2026.
Ahead of the official rollout, we went behind the scenes at ANA’s secretive design studio for an early look at the airline’s upcoming Business Class, Premium Economy and Economy seats.
And after spending time with the mock-ups in person, it’s clear that ANA’s premium push extends beyond just the pointy end. Even Economy Class is getting a meaningful upgrade.
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ANA’s new The Room FX Business Class
The headline act is undoubtedly The Room FX, ANA’s new long-haul Business Class suite developed alongside Safran and London-based design firm Acumen.
While inspired by the original “The Room”, this is not simply a scaled-down version. Instead, ANA has reworked the concept specifically for the narrower Boeing 787 cabin. You’d also be forgiven for seeing flashes of Finnair’s AirLounge and Qatar Airways’ Qsuites DNA in this design.
Despite being on a narrower plane, ANA points out that The Room FX is actually around 4″ (10 cm) wider than The Room on the Boeing 777s, thanks to a simplified seat structure and thinner walls.
Indeed, the curved backrest feels wide with a fixed, sofa-like design. Yes, that means there is no recline, which we’ve found generally puts passengers in a ‘love it or hate it’ basket. Much like the AirLounge, passengers rely on pillows to get comfortable while upright. A simple fold-up panel transforms the seat into a large sleeping surface.
During our walkthrough, Takehiro Hashizume, Director of Cabin Products & Services at ANA, explained that balancing comfort with the available footprint onboard was one of the biggest challenges.
“We wanted the same spacious feeling as the 777 product [The Room], but within the Boeing 787, which is slightly narrower,” he said. “The Room FX is a bespoke product.”
What’s new with The Room FX
Compared to the current Boeing 787 seats, which we’ve flown numerous times, The Room FX is a major leap in all aspects. Storage is significantly improved with a cupboard built into the seat.
The side console is enormous by Dreamliner standards, with enough room for laptops and personal items without feeling cluttered. There’s also another cupboard near the entertainment screen, with even more storage for smaller items.
Tech upgrades are substantial, too. The Room FX adds wireless charging, Bluetooth audio, USB-C charging and a 24″ monitor, which offers excellent 4K screen resolution and colour.
As the seats we looked at were only prototypes, not all working features were installed yet. But with the door closed and me lying down on the flat surface, I can imagine this will be a very pleasant way to travel on any long-haul flight out of Tokyo.
ANA’s new Premium Economy seat
ANA’s new Premium Economy seat may receive less attention, but it could end up being one of the most passenger-friendly upgrades in the fleet. Developed with Recaro, the seat now reclines 2″ more than before (to 9″ or 23cm) and also has an additional 2″ of seat pitch, bringing it to 40″ (or ~101cm).
The seat shell appears slimmer and now features winged headrests, while a full-size legrest effectively cradles my legs. Paired with the recline, it’s also a seat I’d be happy to spend 10 hours in.
One of the biggest questions in Premium Economy is ‘how easy is it to get out of the seat when the person in front is reclined?’ Particularly on 38″ pitch products, such as Qantas’ Boeing 787 and A380 Premium Economy, it can be a sticking point for travellers.
During my quick test of ANA’s seat, I felt it was slightly easier to maneuver myself out. But with the more generous recline offered to passengers, the seat can still feel a bit ‘in-your-face’ if you’re upright. Once you also recline, it feels fine, though.
As expected, ANA has also added larger 15.6″ entertainment screens, USB-C charging and Bluetooth audio support. There is a little bit of storage under the outer armrest. Each passenger also has their own AC charging point, located in the centre armrest.
Although there will still be only 21 premium seats in a 2-3-2 layout, Hashizume describes Premium Economy as an increasingly important cabin for the airline.
“Passengers want more comfort and personal space, especially on long-haul routes,” he said. “With the shell headrests and extra recline, we believe this product gives customers a meaningful upgrade experience.”
ANA’s new Economy seat
Even Economy Class sees a notable leap in space. ANA’s new long-haul Boeing 787 Economy seat retains an industry-leading 33-34″ (84-86cm) seat pitch. But Hashizume is keen to point out the redesigned lower seat structure, which effectively offers an extra inch of knee room while keeping the same pitch.
While that may sound modest on paper, it feels surprisingly noticeable when seated. Even with the seat in front reclined, my knees are nowhere near touching it.
Put another way, this is similar to what Qantas and Virgin Australia offer in their Economy Plus and Economy X products, but as standard across the whole plane.
Recline has also increased by another 2″ (~5cm), with ANA now laying claim to ‘one of the world’s highest pitch and amount of recline for an Economy Class seat.’
The overall effect is a cabin that feels less cramped than many modern long-haul Economy products. Indeed, the new Boeing 787s will only have 137 Economy seats in a 3-3-3 layout, with more than half the plane taken up by Business Class (48 seats) and Premium Economy (21 seats).
Hashizume maintains that comfort in Economy remains a core priority throughout the redesign process.
“We’ve made the seats more comfortable with extra space for your legs, more lumbar support, bigger screens and so on. I think this will be one of the best Economy seats,” he reaffirmed.
The only element where ANA doesn’t have an advantage is in seat width. That crown goes to rival Japan Airlines, which is the only airline to maintain a 2-4-2 layout on the Boeing 787s.
Summing up
The all-important question now is, when and where will we see The Room FX fly first? Unfortunately, ANA remains coy on that key detail. We do know the new cabin will debut on the airline’s three upcoming Boeing 787 deliveries, set to commence later in 2026.
Takuya Kamo, Manager of Cabin Products & Services at ANA, tells us that the existing subfleet of 16 Boeing 787-9s (currently configured with 48 Business Class, 21 Premium Economy, and 146 Economy) will also undergo the full cabin refresh over the next few years.
“But we can’t say for sure when the refurbishment will be finished yet, or what routes we are planning to launch the new Boeing 787 on,” he added.
ANA has over 20 other Boeing 787-9s with a higher-density configuration (40 Business Class, 14 Premium Economy, and 192 Economy). However, the airline is not refitting them as part of the initial rollout.
These jets are still flying to Sydney and Perth currently, so it’s entirely possible we don’t see The Room FX down under in the foreseeable future. Then again, given how popular tourism to Japan is from Australia, we could see ANA eventually deploy the refitted 787s here if there’s enough premium demand. Watch this space.
Disclaimer
Transparency is important to us. Main photography by the author, who travelled to Japan at Point Hacks’ expense. Supplementary photography and main videography by Tobias Venus, who travelled to Japan at his own expense. ANA hosted the tour portion of the visit only.
