American Airlines (AA) and Japan Airlines (JAL) have moved into the next phase of launching their transpacific joint business, with the start of joint sales in Japan.
This means customers in Japan can now access a wider variety of flight options, destinations and fares, said the airlines.
The transpacific joint venture (JV) is due to start on April 1. The fellow Oneworld carriers will share revenues on 10 transpacific routes, including Tokyo to New York, Vancouver, Chicago and Los Angeles.
As part of the tie-up, AA and JAL will increase the number of flights they codeshare on to 123, with further routes to be added in the future.
They are also amending their timetables to reduce connection times for passengers. For example, AA’s flight from Dallas Fort Worth to Tokyo Narita will be timed so that the number of destinations that can be connected to within three hours will increase from four to 12.
Similarly, JAL’s Narita-Chicago flight will depart earlier in the day and AA’s flight will depart later in the day, which will increase from 43 to 45 the number of possible connections that cam be made to other destinations in the US within three hours of arrival into Chicago.