Welcome to my trip report on Solaseed Air!
Solaseed Air operates a fleet of 14 Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
If you are lucky, you might fly one of the airline's aircraft painted in the Pokemon special livery. (Photo: Kazuchika Naya)
Introduction
Since I was staying 4 days in Okinawa, I decided to do a couple of days of joyrides with the domestic Japanese airlines but later on, I had to change my plans and stick to a day of flying and that gave me more time to explore the city. As I had already flown with Starflyer and Peach, I looked the my other options and they are Solaseed Air, Jetstar Japan, Sky Airlines, Japan Airlines and it's subsidiaries and ANA. Checking the flight times of these airlines, Solaseed and Sky Airlines offer the best flight timings and I decided to take a trip to Fukuoka as it is one of the cities I wanted to visit for quite a while but because my flight connection is around 4 hours, I decided to stay at the airport to do some planespotting instead, I will visit this city in the near future.
So without further ado, let's begin this trip report!
About Solaseed Air
Solaseed Air, formerly known as Pan Asia Airlines, was found in July 1997 and started commercial operation 5 years later (2002) with the airline renamed to Skynet Asia Airways. This name lasted until 2011 which was then renamed to Solaseed Air. The airline has 2 operating hubs, Naha (Okinawa) and Tokyo Haneda Airport and flies only on domestic routes. The headquarters of the airline is based at Miyazaki Airport and operates mainly to the island of Kyushu. This airline has codeshare agreement with All Nippon Airways and operates a fleet of 14 Boeing 737-800.
Booking
Booking with this airline is only available on the website and is available in 4 languages: English, Chinese, Korean and Japanese. Although the website's function is basic, I managed to get my booking done without issues.
Click here for the airline's website
Just like any other Japanese airlines, there are many discounted fares and of course if you book in advance, the airfare is cheaper.
Booking on Japanese domestic flights allow you to make your booking first then pay later. Once you receive your booking, the email will include a deadline date to settle the payment. Foreign credt/debit cards are acceptable and once the deadline passed, your booking will automatically be cancelled.
There are 2 different configuration of the airline's 737-800.
My aircraft (JA804X) was in a 174-seater configuration.
At that time of booking, there were a lot of vacant seats.
Seat selection is complimentary and I chose seat 10F for the amazing view of the engine and wing. (Check out my window view photos at the later part of the trip report)
Once I completed my booking, I was issued the reservation and confirmation number which you can use to check in and just the reservation number to check your itinerary.
Overall, I find the website to be quite simple to use, once I understand the concept.
This is the neighbourhood near Akamine station, a station away from the airport.
The train driver was in action on board one of the trains.
Welcome to Naha International Airport!
As the airport is small, the domestic and international terminal are just beside each other.
I entered the terminal by the left entrance.
Passenger's pick up point at the ground level.
The airport terminal isn't big but there are ample shops and restaurants to check out.
Airport Wi-Fi is available.
This is the departure hall.
I went to the airline's desk to obtain my boarding pass. You can do web online check-in to ensure you get your assigned seat.
There were a good number of flights taking place at that time.
This side of the terminal was quiet.
I went up to check out the variety of restaurants.
Are you a pokemon fan? This section of the terminal would interest you.
Pikachu in Okinawa's costume. For those who play Pokemon Go, you can catch this pokemon with this attire only in this city.
Can you recognise any of the Pokemon (below)?
(Charizard, Shaymin, Latios)
These are the 'gachapon' machines. 'Gacha'means the sound of cranking while 'pon' means something appear magically. These capsules obtained from the machines contain collectible items such as figurine.
Skymark's 737-800 just pushed back for departure.
Check-in A counters
Peach Check-in counters
Security check took less than 10 minutes to clear and I was at the airside.
My flight was departing from gate 31 and it is code shared with ANA. It is possible to purchase Solaseed Air flights through ANA's website.
There are duty free shops at the air side. For eateries, I recommend checking out the restaruants at the landside, as there are more choices than the airside in the domestic departure hall.
Plane spotting is possible at this airport, check out the photos below.
EVA Air A321ceo and Tigerair Taiwan A320neo
ANA Boeing 737-800
ANA Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner
ANA Boeing 737-800
Japan Transocean Air Boeing 737-800
Japan Airlines Airbus A350-900
Peach Airbus A320neo
The nose of JTA's Boeing 737-800 (JA348J)
There are 2 piers at the domestic terminal, you can walk through this hallway to connect from the concourse to either piers.
Just like any other domestic terminals in the world, you have duty free and snack shops available.
I did a check on Flightradar24 which aircraft I was flying on, JA804X gets the honour.
The assigned gate for my flight
JA804X being prepared for departure
There are charging ports at some of the seats.
After getting my boarding pass checked, I was given this ticket. My question is isn't the boarding pass enough to verify my seat assignment and any other information the staff or cabin crew needs.
Here I am, on board my 119th airline, Solaseed Air!
My ride: JA804X
Shout out to all the ground staff especially those working on the aircraft in cold and hot weather.
JA804X
Boeing 737-86N (Leased from AerCap)
Configuration: Y174
2X CFM56 engines
Age: 12+ Years Old (Feb 2025)
4016th Boeing 737 built
Built in Renton (RNT)
Flight route: Okinawa to Fukuoka
Miles: 536
My seat: 10F (Photo: Solaseed Air's website)
Date of departure: 25th November 2025
Airline: Solaseed Air
Flight number: 6J102
Route: OKA-FUK
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800
Registration: JA804X
Seat: 10F
Terminal: Domestic
Gate: 31
Load: 70%
Schedule Flight Time: 1 hr 27 mins
Actual Flight Time: 1 hr 37 mins
Schedule Departure Time: 1045
Boarding: 1023
Push Back: 1041
Take Off: 1048
Schedule Arrival: 1225
Actual Arrival: 1225
Departure Runway: 18L
Departure Weather: Partially Cloudy
Arrival Runway: 16
Arrival Weather: Clear
My flight experience
Boarding commerced about 20 minutes before departure time. The turn around of this 737-800 was very fast I must say. Once on board, I was greeted by the lovely crew and the cabin interior certainly caught my attention. I find the fabric seats to be comfortable and more importantly the legroom space was great. Announcement was made in both Japanese and English and the pilots gave us an update on our flight during cruising.
The cabin crew came around to give us our complimentary beverage and also offered duty free service if anyone wants to purchase any items. It was a very pleasant flight throughout with only slight bumps during the take off at Naha Airport. The weather was splendid in both airports and I can't ask for more. Later on just before arrival, we were slightly delayed to arrive at Fukuoka due to heavy traffic at that time. So that added another 10 minutes of flight time but I was treated to a spectacular view of the city during approach.
However, we landed just on time and taxied to our gate within minutes.
About the airline's Boeing 737-800
This aircraft is configured in a single class 3-3 seating configuration. For the standard seats, they have a comfortable legroom space of 32 inches and the 2 rows of emergency seats have slightly better legroom space. Each seat has a seat width of 17 inches and can recline up to 3 inches. There is no inflight entertainment individual screen and charging ports installed on Solaseed's fleet, however Wi-Fi streaming is available.
Cabin photos of this 174-seater Boeing 737-800
I find colours of the seat fabric and headcover matching.
Comfortable legroom space
The Boeing Sky Interior
Seats D, E and F
This is my seat 10F.
I like the interior of the cabin, finding it to be comfortable and cozy.
The view of fhe cabin during the flight.
Solaseed air's cabin crew
The first 2 rows of the cabin.
Do you notice the roomy legroom space?
More photos of the seat
The interior of the carpet
My legs are satisfied with the space.
I booked this row so that I can enjoy the engine view.
The basic economy class seats
Do you like the seat interior?
The foldable tray table
Armrest with the recline button
View from my seat
What's provided for each passenger?
Airline's promotion
Information about the airline's streaming service
Instruction on how to access the service
Inflight duty-free magazine
Safety Card
Lavatory
In-Flight Entertainment
There were 2 connections to log in.
English language is available.
There are a few options to choose from, but most of the contents are in Japanese.
The in-flight map
The contents of the airline's in-flight entertainment
Digital version of the inflight magazine
Japanese music
My flight's progress
Complimentary beverage - choice of water, juices or soup
I chose the soup option, it was tasty.
Window view photos (Take Off to Landing)
The fuel truck had finishing refueling our aircraft.
Pushing back in progress.
Passing by a couple of ANA aircraft.
Turning left, heading towards the threshold.
We started accelerating.
What a beautiful day for flying!
The colours of the engine reminds me of Air Baltic.
A bit of bumps here and there.
At this point, it was a smooth flight. It stays that way for the rest of the flight.
We started our descent.
We were placed on a holding pattern due to heavy traffic at our arrival airport.
However, that gave the passengers an opportunity to enjoy the amazing view.
At this point, we were on final approach.
The city of Fukuoka greeted us.
With that, my enjoyable flight came to an end.
Reverse thrust was deployed.
Our taxi to the gate took less than 5 minutes.
Passing by a Japan Airlines Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.
We arrived at our gate.
What an enjoyable flight!
My flight summary
Welcome to Fukuoka!
Thanks for the ride, JA804X!
The departure hall (airside of FUK airport)
The photos of those Ramen noodles made me hungry at that point.
Once I was at the land side, I headed over to the Skymark check-in counter to receive my boarding pass for the return flight.
Last look of JA804X as it was preparing for departure back to Naha.
JA804X pushing back for its flight back to Okinawa
Hope you enjoyed my trip report!
My ratings
Airline Website (Mobile app not available): 3/5
Airport Experience (Okinawa): 3.5/5
In-Flight Experience: 4/5
Seat Comfort: 3.5/5
In-Flight Entertainment (Online Streaming): 3.5/5
Cabin Ambiance: 5/5
Seat Condition: 5/5
Punctuality: 5/5
In-Flight Beverage: 3.5/5
Cabin Cleanliness: 5/5
Overall Rating: 41/50
Percentage: 82%
Conclusion
With the middle seat vacant, I enjoyed the slightly more legroom space in this comfortable seat and while the service is basic with only a complimentary drink is served, I find the flight to be very pleasant. With the airline's streaming available for passengers, the programmes offered are more than adequate for the short flight duration on routes this airline covers. I was fortunate to be flying on such a beautiful day and although the flying time lasted longer than announced, I enjoyed the view of the city of Fukuoka and this is one of the reasons why I love flying. So when booking with Japanese airlines flying within the country, I recommend you to book ahead in time to take advantage of the lower fares. I certainly recommend this airline, in fact I find it better than some of the low-cost carriers in my region.
Have a good one!
Charles
For my previous trip report (Peach Aviation A320ceo TPE-OKA), click here
For my next trip report (Skymark 737-800 FUK-OKA), coming up soon.
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