It’s not often that a traveler might regard a long plane ride to Asia as a chance to recharge, but ANA has decided to challenge the notion with a new program, ANA Travel Wellness.
Spearheaded by ANA’s Digital Design Lab — a department within the company focused on innovation and the future of travel — the groundbreaking initiative stems from a Harvard-led research study focusing on the determinants of jet lag among U.S. and Japanese passengers traveling in business class.
“ANA realizes that many travelers fear long flights due to potential side effects such as jet lag, fatigue or lack of sleep,” said Yoshiaki Tsuda, Vice President, ANA Digital Design Lab. “These negative notions deter some passengers from taking longer flights.”
Travelers take note: The first of ANA’s travel wellness tools will be introduced in early summer and promises to be a game changer. It’s a mobile app designed to help relieve the feeling of jet lag by targeting its symptoms. The app was created in partnership with NeuroSpace, a startup whose mission is to advance the quality of sleep. By looking into the scientific cause of jet lag, the customizable tool aims to prevent the phenomenon from occurring altogether.
After the user inputs personal details, from daily sleeping and eating hours to the flight schedule for upcoming travel, the app makes a series of recommendations. The advice begins with behavioral tips to implement before the journey to help gradually adapt to the destination time (for example, eating lightly and tweaking sleep times) and extends through the period of travel and afterward, once back home.
As ANA’s Travel Wellness Initiative unfolds, passengers may arrive at their destinations in better shape than they were before boarding. Now you can click “confirm” on all your vacation plans without a second thought.