The seat Josh Cahill settled into on his ZipAir flight from Seoul Incheon International Airport to Tokyo Narita Airport on his way to Manila Ninoy Aquino International Airport was, by his account, visibly dirty before the aircraft had even pushed back. That detail, on a Japanese carrier operating out of Japan, anchored his otherwise mixed assessment of the airline's budget business-class product on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
The Cabin: No Screens, and a Cleanliness Problem
Cahill boarded the 787 on the ICN-MNL route and noted a few immediate issues. First, there were no seatback screens anywhere in the cabin(0:01). ZipAir streams all entertainment to passengers' personal devices, which Cahill described as a meaningful departure from what most travelers expect in a business class seat (14:50). "There was no inflight entertainment in the traditional sense; the screen was missing, and everything was streamed to personal devices," he said.
“The cabin and especially the seat were filthy, which is very unlike anything known in Japan, where cleanliness is highly valued.”
Cahill made that observation shortly after boarding. Japan's reputation for immaculate public spaces made the condition of the seat stand out more sharply than it might have on a carrier from another country. He did not attribute the state of the cabin to a systemic policy, but the contrast with the airline's national context was something he returned to more than once.
Catering: Pre-Ordered, and Delivered 45 Minutes In
ZipAir's catering model requires passengers to select and pay for meals at the time of booking. Cahill had pre-ordered a pork cutlet sandwich, which arrived 45 minutes into the flight alongside two bottles of water (17:39). The meal was included as part of what he had arranged before departure, not offered reactively by crew during the flight.
The headline of the ZipAir model, as Cahill framed it, is the near-absence of cabin crew in the traditional sense. The airline operates with a reduced crew footprint, which keeps fares low but also means the service interactions passengers associate with business class are largely absent. The pre-order system is a direct consequence of that structure: without crew circulating the cabin to take orders, the airline offloads that function to the booking process.
Free Wi-Fi and the Budget Calculus
One feature Cahill flagged as a genuine positive was complimentary internet access. On most short-haul to medium-haul Asian carriers, Wi-Fi either costs extra or is unavailable entirely. ZipAir includes it, which, combined with the streaming-only entertainment model, suggests the airline is deliberately building around personal devices rather than treating connectivity as an add-on.
The pricing of between $250 to $300 for a business class ticket was the other pillar of Cahill's case for the product. His overall framing positioned the ticket as meaningfully cheaper than a conventional business class seat on a full-service carrier between Tokyo and Manila. For a traveler willing to pre-order food, bring their own device, and accept a reduced service cadence, the value proposition holds, in his view.
“Honestly, for that price and for what you receive in return, great budget airline.”
That conclusion came near the end of the review (19:13), after Cahill had worked through the cleanliness issues, the absent screens, and the stripped-back service. The qualifier "budget airline" is doing real work in that sentence: Cahill was not arguing that ZipAir competes with full-service carriers on product quality, but that it delivers adequately against its own pricing tier.
This assessment closely aligns with findings published earlier on Milimgo by Alex Shepard on June 28, in an article detailing Jeb Brooks’s review of ZipAir’s long-haul route from Houston to Tokyo. Like Cahill, Brooks praised the comfort of the lie-flat 787 seat and noted the same absence of seatback screens, relying instead on personal devices and functioning Wi-Fi. However, where Cahill’s review was marred by a surprisingly filthy seat, Brooks made no mention of cleanliness issues. Conversely, Brooks suffered a technical failure Cahill avoided: ZipAir’s internal streaming service was completely inoperative during his 14-hour journey, leaving unprepared passengers with few entertainment options.
The two reviews also demonstrate how ZipAir’s minimalist service model shifts from a minor inconvenience on short-haul routes to a higher-stakes gamble on long-haul sectors. While Cahill’s pre-ordered meal arrived smoothly on his shorter flight, Brooks highlighted a severe breakdown on his transpacific trip, where onboard food ran out entirely for passengers who had not ordered in advance. Ultimately, both reviewers reach a similar consensus: ZipAir is not attempting to compete with full-service carriers on lounge access, attentive service, or inflight dining. Rather, it delivers a clear, cost-effective trade-off for travelers who simply want a lie-flat bed at a fraction of traditional business class prices and are willing to manage their own food, entertainment, and comfort.
