Tag Archives for tokyo narita.
American Airlines is expected to announce Chicago–Tokyo flights today after details leaked ahead of an O’Hare employee event. The route would mark a major step in American’s renewed Chicago push, giving the airline fresh long-haul Asia service, more Japan Airlines joint-venture connectivity, and another way to fight back as United tries to dominate O’Hare.
United Airlines is planning to expand its operation of Boeing 737s flying out of Tokyo Narita airport to other destinations in Asia. The world is different, demand is different, and United has unique assets worth trying to deploy – to see if intra-Asia flying from Tokyo works, and if not to fail quickly and pivot.
On December 23, Emirates flight EK319 from Tokyo Narita to Dubai became a miserable experience for 500 passengers and crew on the Airbus A380. The plane went mechanical, and missed taking off before the airport’s midnight curfew by just a few minutes. The airline didn’t bother getting hotel rooms for passengers – or, reportedly, even crew. In fact they told passengers they couldn’t leave the airport, handed out sleeping bags, and directed premium cabin passengers to the lounge for the night.
Toyko Narita airport was built on top of former farming villages, despite local opposition, backed by the Communist and Social Democratic parties, known as the Sanrizuka Struggle. While land for the airport was initially acquired voluntarily from its owners, by 1971 the Japanese government began expropriating property.
Opposition clashed with construction workers and police, leading to deaths and mass arrests. Over 500 guerrilla actions have taken place against Narita airport since its opening in 1978.
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 »
