American Airlines welcomes the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) tentative approval to begin nonstop service between New York Kennedy Airport (JFK) and Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND).
American says it will be the only US airline to operate service between JFK and Tokyo, complementing existing service operated by its joint business partner Japan Airlines (JAL), which recently began deploying its new flagship Airbus A350-1000 to JFK.
Oneworld airline was competing for the Haneda spot with United Airlines, which had proposed adding service to Houston.
American plans to begin direct service to HND in the coming months. The new JFK-HND service will be American's fourth daily nonstop flight to HND, joining existing daily service from Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) and two daily flights from Los Angeles (LAX).
Flights are expected to depart Haneda at 15:05 and arrive in New York at 15:10. In the opposite direction, US service from JFK to Haneda will depart the US at 10:00 and arrive in Tokyo at 1:05 pm the next day.
American is expected to use a Boeing 777-200ER on the 6.7772-mile route, with 273 seats, including 37 in business class, 24 in premium economy and 212 in regular economy.
“American hopes to begin nonstop service to Tokyo's Haneda Airport from JFK,” said American CEO Robert Isom. “We are grateful to the DOT and our partner Japan Airlines for supporting our application. Together, we are well positioned to offer customers a comprehensive network between two of the world's strongest economies.
“This new service will add nearly 200,000 additional round-trip seats annually between the U.S. and Japan, offering customers more ways to conduct business in the global marketplace or connect with family and friends.”
aa.com
