STAR-ADVERTISER / 2005
Japan Airlines and many other carriers canceled or delayed flights to and from Hawaii.
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Japan Airlines, which now operates six daily flights to Honolulu, will reach a milestone Sunday when it marks its 60th anniversary of Hawaii service.
The airline said Wednesday it also will upgrade service beginning March 30 on two of its daily flights from Narita International Airport in Tokyo.
JAL currently operates three flights from Narita and one each from Haneda International Airport in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya.
The airline said for its summer schedule that it will upgrade two of its Narita flights to a 186-seat Boeing 787 Dreamliner from a 233-seat Boeing 767. The airline said the newer aircraft will provide a higher level of in-flight comfort to passengers that includes larger windows with electronically dimmable shades, higher ceilings, lower cabin pressure and better humidity closer to ground conditions. The Dreamliner also offers JAL Shell Flat NEO seats in business class that provide more privacy for sleeping.
The airline, which will hold various activities throughout the year to commemorate its anniversary, introduced its first route from Tokyo to Honolulu on Feb. 2, 1954, with a refueling stop in Wake Island. From Honolulu, the service continued on to San Francisco. This twice-weekly round-trip service used a DC-6B aircraft named the "City of Tokyo."
After experiencing healthy growth over the years with both international and domestic route expansion and upgrading with the latest aircraft from DC-7C, DC-8 to Boeing 747, JAL became one of the world’s largest carriers.
It recently completed a corporate reorganization from 2010 that included downsizing to more cost-efficient and competitive Boeing 767s and Boeing 777s.