American Airlines adding Haneda to JFK route

AMERICAN AIRLINES has welcomed tentative approval from the US Department of Transportation (DOT) to begin nonstop service between New York’s JFK and Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND). American says it will be the only US carrier operating service between JFK and Tokyo, complementing the existing service operated by its joint business partner Japan Airlines ( JAL), which recently started deploying its new flagship Airbus A350-1000 to JFK.

The Oneworld carrier was competing for the Haneda slot with United Airlines, which had proposed adding service to Houston.

American plans to begin nonstop 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 1505, arriving in New York at 1510. In the opposite direction, the American service from JFK to Haneda is set to depart the US at 1000, arriving in Tokyo at 1305 the following day.

American is expected to use a Boeing 777-200ER on the 6,777-mile route, featuring 273 seats, including 37 in business class, 24 in premium economy and 212 in regular economy class.