RTW TP Run in Jan 2026: Day 176 – Tokyo Narita (NRT) to Frankfurt (FRA)

Sleep was indeed a real challenge. Heading east always proves to be difficult, which perhaps might be one reason why we travel to the US so much.

After a few short spells of dozing, I was up, packed and ready to call for a cab at not long after 4:15am. An Uber arrived within a few minutes and I was on my extended and expensive trip to Narita Airport.

I think the driver was late for something based on the speed he was going along the motorway. He was a relatively old geezer as well, who didn’t understand the need for the other lanes to the left of him.

I reached Narita Airport just after 5am and the place was dead. Security was not due to open until 7am and based on reports when they say 7am, it would be 7am on the dot.

I found myself a quiet spot to settle down in, although I didn’t stay there that long. I decided that I needed some food and McDonalds opened at 6am, so I enjoyed a hash brown whilst watching England struggle to beat Norway.

Once the fast track security facility opened up, and it did indeed open on the dot at 7am,  I raced through and watched the rest of the match from the Japan Airlines First Lounge.

It was nice to come back here – it felt comfortable. The only downside was I only had limited time to enjoy the lounge. Last time I was here, I had about 12 hours to kill!

My flight to Frankfurt left from Gate 65, so it wasn’t that far from the lounge. I headed down there about 50 mins before our scheduled departure and I was disappointed and surprised to see that boarding would only start about 20 mins before we were due to leave.

That didn’t seem to leave too much time to cram so many passengers on a wide-bodied jet.

I needn’t have worried – we pushed back on time.

I reminded myself of the very unusual and to be honest horrid JAL business class layout. I was in 01A and I was faced with a 14 hour flight going over the North Pole, that being the shortest and safest route to Frankfurt.

I started off with a grape juice and nuts. Nice easy warm up to the main event. The initial meal came as either a Japanese set meal or a western set meal.

For some reason, I decided to be ultra brave and went Japanese. Not sure that was the best decision I made on this trip.

Most of the small dishes were just a little too slimy for me. But I did eat some if it. I was left a little hungry.

My first attempt at sleeping was half successful. That is one thing that these JAL business class seats are good for.

They are completely flat, together with a thick mattress, you can get pretty comfy.

When I woke up, I decided to order the beef curry and a strawberry ice cream through the infotainment system. The food arrived within 5 mins. Wow!

There was very little actual beef involved, but it was lovely and rich.

We lost satellite connectivity at some point and it was out for about 4-5 hours or so. I remembered one of the cabin crew mentioning something about that before we took off. I guess on the unusual route we were following, there is very little need for satellite coverage.

With 2 hours to go I fancied ordering some more food, but the ordering system wasn’t available.

I think the cabin crew must have been monitoring my attempts to order. Within a few mins, a member of the crew came to take my order.

I enjoyed another beef curry with another single piece of beef. This did cause some amusement amongst the cabin crew, since as we approached Frankfurt a number of crew thanked me for flying with them and asked whether I enjoyed beef curry!

The Japan Airlines cabin crew were a joy. Just as good as any Middle Eastern cabin crew, who are always exceptional. So credit to them. The flight was a long one (about 14 hours) but they made it comfortable all the way through.

On arrival, there was the normal pre-registration and queue for Immigration to get into the EU, which is an utter joke of a process. However, it is what it is and you don’t get a choice in the matter.

That took about 20 mins and then I grabbed the free shuttle to get from T3 to T1, then it was a short walk to the Hilton Garden Inn.

When I got into my room and turned on the TV, I got an amazing surprise in being able to watch Petrocelli on TV in German! Fabulous – what a couple of series that was.

Interestingly, there was not one available channel in English. Lots were listed, but none were being shown.

I finished off the day with a brief visit to Burger King. I needed a change from McDonalds!

A massive King’s Steakhouse Double off the special Kings Menu, together with Chilli Cheese Fries. Nice.