Japan Airlines Resumes Flights from D/FW

Japan Airlines resumes flying Monday from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to Tokyo's Narita International Airport for the first time in more than 14 years.

The Japanese carrier initially will operate four flights a week but has said it might expand to daily service in the spring. It will fly a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner jet -- which has 161 seats and first-class, premium economy and economy cabins -- on the route.

Japan Airlines will mark its return with a traditional Japanese gate ceremony at 10:00 a.m. Monday at gate 22 in Terminal D. The flight is scheduled to depart at 11:45 a.m.

Japan Airlines ended its D/FW-to- Narita service on Oct. 7, 2001, following the terrorist hijackings of Sep. 11, 2001. It initially began that service in March 1999.

Its oneworld Alliance partner American Airlines, the dominant carrier at D/FW Airport, will continue to fly twice a day between D/FW Airport and Narita, using Boeing 777-200 aircraft with 247 to 260 seats. Each carrier will put its code on the other's flights, meaning Fort Worth-based American and Japan Airlines will share revenue from each other's U.S.-Japan flights.

Japan Airlines will rely on American and regional brand American Eagle to feed passengers to its D/FW flights, just as American feeds passengers to JAL's flights out of Narita.

D/FW, the nation's fourth-busiest airport, sees more than 63 million travelers a year and offers flights to more than 200 destinations, including 57 international cities. Nearly a third of the international destinations were added in the last five years.

Japan Airlines' return to D/FW Airport is the latest in a number of international wins for North Texas travelers in the past four years. Among them:

To the west: American Airlines launched service to Seoul, South Korea, in May 2013; to Shanghai and Hong Kong in June 2014; and Beijing in May 2015. Qantas Airways launched service to Sydney in September 2014.

To the east: Emirates Airline launched flights to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in February 2012. Qatar Airways launched flights to Doha, Qatar, in July 2014, and Etihad Airways launched flights to Abu Dhabi, UAE, last December.