American Airlines
plans Tokyo flights
American Airlines is planning to offer nonstop service between Honolulu and Tokyo.
The airline, based in Fort Worth, Texas, has asked the U.S. Department of Transportation for seven weekly round-trip flights between the United States and Japan to start the nonstop service, American said in a news release.
American will apply for slots at Narita Airport as soon as the DOT responds, the airline said.
The carrier already flies to Tokyo from Los Angeles, San Jose, Calif., Dallas, Chicago and New York's Kennedy Airport.
State officials this week said the number of Japanese visitors to Hawaii appears to be on the rise. Last month's visitor count showed an 11.2 percent increase in the number of visitors from Japan over March of last year.
Last year, Hawaii had 1.3 million Japanese visitor arrivals, way down from a high of 2.15 million arrivals in 1997.