All Nippon Airways has teamed up with Toyota Boshoku to design and produce a new economy-class seat for ANA’s domestic fleet. This collaboration brings together ANA’s aviation experience and Toyota Boshoku’s long-standing expertise in automotive seating to create a more comfortable experience for passengers. The seats enter service on ANA’s domestic routes beginning in June.
As Toyota Boshoku’s first aircraft seat development and manufacturing project, the program represents a significant step for the company into the aerospace market. ANA and Toyota Boshoku plan to install a total of 1,560 of the new seats across six Boeing 767-300 aircraft by fiscal 2016.
The new seat emphasizes ergonomic design and passenger comfort. Each seat measures 17.5 inches in width with a 31-inch pitch, arranged in a 2-3-2 cabin configuration. The structure is engineered to reduce muscle fatigue in the hip area by providing firm support to the pelvis, helping passengers maintain a relaxed posture during flight. In addition, rounded headrests are incorporated to create a feeling of openness and to broaden the passenger’s field of view.
These improvements are intended to make domestic travel more comfortable for a wide range of passengers, offering better posture support and a more open seating environment without changing the overall cabin layout. The joint effort leverages practical airline needs and automotive seating techniques to deliver a durable, comfortable product suitable for daily airline operations.
Introduction of the seats on ANA’s Boeing 767-300 aircraft will allow the airline to evaluate passenger response and operational performance in regular service. Based on those results, similar design principles could be applied to future cabin upgrades or new aircraft types, while Toyota Boshoku gains experience that may support further expansion into aviation interiors.
Overall, the partnership aims to combine both companies’ strengths—ANA’s knowledge of passenger needs and cabin requirements, and Toyota Boshoku’s craftsmanship in seat design and manufacturing—to enhance economy-class comfort on domestic routes.