ANA is set to introduce premium sake to its economy drinks menu.

The airline currently offers its “sake service” to first and business class passengers only, but will begin serving the rice wine from leading brewery Ichinokura in economy from September 1. The sake is made from two varieties of rice from the Miyagi prefecture, north of Tokyo.

Vice president of products and services strategy at ANA, Yuzo Hara, said:

“Sake is popular in Japan and in many countries around the world. In recent years, many of our passengers have been asking us to serve sake in economy class.”

“The number of international visitors to Japan is increasing, and this trend is expected to continue, as Japan hosts a number of international events such as the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo in 2020. Being Japan’s only five-star airline, we want to give all our passengers around the world the opportunity to try quality sake.”

“We hope that our passengers will pair the sake with their meals on board ANA flights, for a full Japanese gastronomic experience. The Ichinokura brewery is famous for carefully brewing high-quality sake using a blend of tradition mixed with innovation, which are two of the values we share at ANA.”

The airline is also set to launch its ANA Suite Lounge and ANA Lounge at Sapporo airport for first and business class passengers on September 13. Designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, this will be ANA’s first domestic lounge at the airport for first class passengers, offering menus based on ingredients from the region such as cheese tarts, Hokkaido beer and onigiri rice balls.

ANA operates domestic lounges at Tokyo Haneda, Osaka and Okinawa airports.

ana.co.jp