In what could provide a much-needed boost to the still lagging Japanese visitor arrivals, United Airlines is launching a highly sought-after flight between Tokyo-Haneda and Guam.
The first Guam to Haneda flight is scheduled to depart May 1.
United Airlines has scheduled a media event at the Tokyo-Haneda airport with a gate celebration and ribbon-cutting to kick off the inaugural Haneda to Guam flight, which the airline said is the first route of its kind.
Flights depart Haneda at 11:55 p.m., arriving on Guam at 4:40 a.m. the next morning.
Return flights depart Guam at around 7 p.m. and arrive at Haneda at 10 p.m.
United Airlines has been seeking a slot at Japan’s largest and busiest airport for some time, and the U.S. Department of Transportation approved the route and issued a notice of action on Feb. 17.
In an interview shortly after, United Airlines managing director for airport operations in Asia-Pacific, Sam Shinohara, called it a potential “game changer.”
Guam Visitors Bureau President and CEO Carl Gutierrez has strongly backed the flights as an “enormous opportunity” to grow the visitor market for the island.
GVB has planned a Haneda inaugural mission from May 8 to 11, which aims to promote the new route for sustainability, said GVB public information officer Lisa Bordallo.
The Haneda airport is located within the Tokyo metropolitan area, which has a population of more than 37 million.
The airline plans to operate seven flights a week between Tokyo-Haneda and Guam using Boeing 737 aircraft, which has room for 166 customers, including 16 business class seats.
United has operated on Guam for more than 55 years and is the only airline today flying between Guam and Osaka, Fukuoka and Nagoya in Japan, as well as islands in the Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands and Palau.
With this addition, United will operate six daily flights from Haneda, with service to New York/Newark, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and now Guam.
United also operates 10 daily flights to Tokyo’s Narita airport, with service to New York/Newark, Houston, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Guam, and Saipan. United offers more seats from the United States to Tokyo than any other U.S. airline.
(1) comment
So now that United is getting new revenue from this new route, what can be done to lower the exorbitant ticket prices for Guamanians and Micronesians between Guam and Honolulu? Your ticket prices between these routes are way over priced because United has a monopoly on this route! If they can give the big honchos a 90% salary increase, then. it's high time that these prices are lowered. Come on, United! Help out the islanders
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