HOMEAIRLINESANA THE ROOM FX BUSINESS CLASS: IS THE NO-RECLINE SEAT A GENIUS MOVE OR A MISTAKE? The World’s Widest Business Seat Is Almost Here, And You Can’t Recline It ANA The Room FX business class is here, or very nearly. Japan’s largest airline is putting its first Boeing 787-9 fitted with the new suite into service this month. And it arrives with a twist that has split the travel world in two. Here’s the headline. The seat is enormous. In fact, at its widest point it measures 41.5 inches, which is roughly double a standard business class seat. Yet it does not recline. Not even a little. Instead, the backrest is fixed in a pre-set, sofa-style position, and you flip up the leg rest by hand to make a bed. So is ANA The Room FX business class the most comfortable suite in the sky, or a bold experiment that goes too far? Let’s break it down. By the end, you’ll know exactly what you’re booking, and whether it’s right for your trip. One note on timing: ANA has scheduled The Room FX to enter service in August 2026, with three aircraft flying by year-end. Rollouts like this can shift slightly, so always confirm the aircraft on your specific flight before you book. ANA The Room FX Business Class: Quick Facts HOMEAIRLINESANA THE ROOM FX BUSINESS CLASS: IS THE NO-RECLINE SEAT A GENIUS MOVE OR A MISTAKE? The World’s Widest Business Seat Is Almost Here, And You Can’t Recline It ANA The Room FX business class is here, or very nearly. Japan’s largest airline is putting its first Boeing 787-9 fitted with the new suite into service this month. And it arrives with a twist that has split the travel world in two. Here’s the headline. The seat is enormous. In fact, at its widest point it measures 41.5 inches, which is roughly double a standard business class seat. Yet it does not recline. Not even a little. Instead, the backrest is fixed in a pre-set, sofa-style position, and you flip up the leg rest by hand to make a bed. So is ANA The Room FX business class the most comfortable suite in the sky, or a bold experiment that goes too far? Let’s break it down. By the end, you’ll know exactly what you’re booking, and whether it’s right for your trip. One note on timing: ANA has scheduled The Room FX to enter service in August 2026, with three aircraft flying by year-end. Rollouts like this can shift slightly, so always confirm the aircraft on your specific flight before you book. ANA The Room FX Business Class: Quick Facts What Is ANA The Room FX Business Class? ANA The Room FX business class is the airline’s next-generation business suite for the Boeing 787-9. The “FX” stands for “Future Experience.” It builds directly on The Room, the celebrated cabin ANA introduced on its Boeing 777-300ER back in 2019. The original was already famous. In short, it was one of the widest and most private business seats in commercial aviation. Now ANA has adapted that concept for the 787, which has a narrower fuselage. Remarkably, the new version is actually wider than the original. Here’s what each suite includes: In other words, this is first-class space wrapped in a business class ticket. However, one design choice changes everything. The No-Recline Design: Why ANA Removed the Mechanism Most business class seats recline. You press a button, a motor hums, and the backrest tilts through dozens of positions. ANA The Room FX business class does none of that. Instead, the seat uses a fixed, pre-reclined backrest. It’s a sofa-style design, similar to Finnair’s AirLoungeconcept. When you want to sleep, you manually flip the leg rest up to form a flat surface. That’s it. There is no electric recline at all. So why remove such a standard feature? The answer is space. By eliminating the motors, tracks, and moving frame, ANA cut both weight and bulk. As a result, the airline freed up room to make the suite 41.5 inches wide on a narrow-body fuselage where that would normally be impossible. The lighter seat also burns less fuel, which supports ANA’s sustainability goals. The trade-off, however, is real. Some travelers love the lounge-like feel and the extra space. Others miss the ability to tilt the backrest gradually: during a meal, while watching a film, or as they drift off to sleep. This debate isn’t new, either. Finnair sparked the same argument when it launched its no-recline seat, and passengers have been divided ever since. ANA The Room FX Business Class vs. US Carriers To understand why this seat matters, compare it to what US airlines offer on the same aircraft type. Feature ANA The Room FX (787-9) Typical US 787 Business (United/Delta/American) Max seat width 41.5 inches ~20–21 inches Bed length 76.5 inches ~78 inches Privacy door Full-height Partial or none on many 787s Recline None (fixed sofa-style) Full electric recline Screen size 24-inch 4K Varies, generally smaller The width difference is striking. ANA’s suite is nearly twice as wide as its US competitors on the 787. Add the full-height door, and the sense of privacy is in a different league. That said, if a traditional recline matters to you, the US carriers still win on that single point. HOMEAIRLINESANA THE ROOM FX BUSINESS CLASS: IS THE NO-RECLINE SEAT A GENIUS MOVE OR A MISTAKE? The World’s Widest Business Seat Is Almost Here, And You Can’t Recline It ANA The Room FX business class is here, or very nearly. Japan’s largest airline is putting its first Boeing 787-9 fitted with the new suite into service this month. And it arrives with a twist that has split the travel world in two. Here’s the headline. The seat is enormous. In fact, at its widest point it measures 41.5 inches, which is roughly double a standard business class seat. Yet it does not recline. Not even a little. Instead, the backrest is fixed in a pre-set, sofa-style position, and you flip up the leg