Fly nonstop from Boston to Tokyo

It’s been a long time coming, but by this time next year Japan Airlines plans to be offering nonstop Boston flights to Tokyo. April 22, 2012 is the anticipated launch date, and the new Boeing 787-8 “Dreamliner” is the equally long-awaited conveyance. The ultra-long range twinjet’s entry into commercial service has been plagued in recent years by a series of setbacks that seem to have been surmounted.

“This new service will connect New England and Asia as never before,” says Thomas J. Kinton, Jr., CEO and executive director at Massport, the entity that operates Logan International Airport.

Giving that connectivity a boost will be JAL’s partnership with American Airlines, a member of the globe-girdling Oneworld Alliance. So’s Japan Airlines. American will code-share with JAL on Boston flights to Tokyo.

Perhaps further helping feed JAL’s Asian forays could be JetBlue, Boston’s dominant airline. In a prepared release, JAL says it has “begun discussions to strengthen its U.S. network structure with JetBlue Airways, utilizing the carrier’s hub operations in Boston to provide customers more options and smoother connections to and from major destinations [on] the East Coast.”

Initially, Boston flights to Tokyo will operate four times per week: Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Flights go daily beginning May 31, 2012. Boston flights to Tokyo will depart at 1:30 p.m. and arrive Narita International Airport at 4:00 the next day. Tokyo flights to Boston will leave at 11:30 a.m. and arrive – courtesy of crossing the International Dateline – at 11:20 a.m.

Japan Airlines has ordered 35 of the ultra-long range 787s.

Story by Jerry Chandler

(Image: Kondo Atsushi)

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction: On May 31, Cheapflights incorrectly stated that Boeing 767-8 planes would fly direct. It has been changed to Boeing 787-8s.