Japan Airlines Orders 42 Planes, Needs Somewhere To Send Them. Will We Finally Get Miami-Tokyo In 2027?

by Gary Leff

Japan Airlines has ordered 42 new planes:

  • 21 Airbus A350-900s, with one delivery for 2025 (replacing a plane involved in the recent Haneda airport incident) and the rest beginning in 2027
  • 10 Boeing 787-9 starting 2027
  • 11 Airbus A321neos from 2028

Japan Airlines expects increased flying to destinations in North America, India and other Asian destinations. Some of its growth will be with low cost subsidiary ZIPAIR which is not part of oneworld.

So what U.S. destinations will we see? Japan Airlines is part of a joint venture across the Pacific with American Airlines. They schedule jointly and share revenue. American has pulled back on its Pacific ambitions beyond flights to Tokyo, and JAL has been very conservative with expansion until now.

If there’s ultimately a desire not to grow U.S. flying in the future as planes deliver, we could see JAL replace American on flights to Tokyo Narita airport. They can’t replace American on Haneda flights, because those are with slots granted specifically to American by the Department of Transportation.

But surely growth could come in the form of a Miami flight? The city doesn’t have a single Asia flight. It’s a big American Airlines hub. JAL has been studying the route. There are subsidies available. And the route doesn’t require overflying Russian airspace.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

More articles by Gary Leff »

Comments

  1. A net of 41 aircraft over at least 5 years is not a big number, Gary, have you heard how many of them could simply be replacements for an aging fleet ? It would be nice to know how many truly new routes that are looking to acquire.

  2. Brisbane, adding frequencies to high yield destinations, and replacing aging aircraft seem like more important initiatives than Miami

  3. Is this pining for a Miami flight rooted in the demand for the route and the economics of such a long flight, or is this another wishful dream totally divorced from all of those airline realities?

  5. There’s been strong demand for a nonstop flight to Asia, particularly to Tokyo, from Miami for decades. One big problem was that until recently it wasn’t economically viable. Now, that’s within range without having to do a Singapore-style configuration.

  6. Toronto Pearson YYZ? oneworld connectivity is missing but BA, AA cover YYZ well with multiple flights daily.

  7. “growth could come in the form of a Miami flight? The city doesn’t have a single Asia flight. It’s a big American Airlines hub. JAL has been studying the route. There are subsidies available. And the route doesn’t require overflying Russian airspace.”

    Interesting. Can we get a map of what the (polar?) route for this would be? What distance would be flown? What aircraft would be used (presumably A350 or B787)?

Comments are closed.