Reader comments
Delta begins nonstop flights between Tokyo, Salt Lake

Sweet! | 1:50 p.m. June 3, 2009

9 Hours?!! That is freaking awesome! When I flew to Taiwan for my mission i stook almost a whole day to get there, because we had a layover in Cali, a layover in Japan, then finally got to Taipei. On the way back we saved hours by not stopping Japan, but it was still like 14 hrs. 9 hrs is not that bad, in fact its pretty quick if you fly over night, you can just sleep the whole way. Hope to see non stop to Taipei soon!

WHO? | 1:53 p.m. June 3, 2009

Cares..........

Sue | 2:10 p.m. June 3, 2009

What a joke. How many of these passengers are destined for Utah? Delta needs to fly passengers to larger hubs, where maybe a few might be going, rather then spending additional money to fly all these passengers on to another city. Not too cost effective, especially with all Delta's costs so high.

Why do you think all the airlines fly their passengers to LA or SF? It is because that is where the passengers are going. Not too many Tokyo passengers will be using SLC as a stop over with all the non-stops to California, Chicago or East Coast cities.

Delta should drop the International services out of SLC, as SLC is ONLY a large regional airport, not a real international airport. With cities like Denver, Phoenix and Las Vegas so close, international traffic will go to those cities before it comes to SLC.

Delta, you can make SLC a hub all you want, but you cannot force people to make a stupid decision of selecting a one stop flight over a non-stop to their intended destination.

Keep your TKO-ATL flights, but get rid of SLC as a international hub. Your losing revenue on SLC connections.

Comments continue below

Asia | 2:40 p.m. June 3, 2009

The flight does not take 9 hours. The official flight time from SLC to Tokyo is 11 hours 50 minutes. From Tokyo to SLC the official flight time is 10 hours 50 minutes.

You will not see a nonstop to Taipei. No U.S. airline has a hub in Taipei. The next most logical non stop flight from SLC to an Asia city would be to Hong Kong. However, that may not be an option because the flight distance may be too far without a refueling stop.

Good for both | 2:47 p.m. June 3, 2009

When the Japanese discover that we have the best skiing and five awesome national parks, they will fly to Utah and have a great time.

Re: Sue | 3:38 p.m. June 3, 2009

Who cares if Delta flies internationally to and from SLC? If they can't make money at it, then they will stop, plain and simple. And how exactly do you know that no one wants to fly into or through SLC? Three of Delta's international destinations to and from SLC are Mexico City, Paris and now Tokyo, all of which benefit the business travelers that work for my company as we travel frequently to these cities.

Less than Half? | 4:05 p.m. June 3, 2009

The A330-200 is a 300 passenger airplane. With only 143 onboard, this flight won't last long.

From Tokyo | 4:06 p.m. June 3, 2009

There is actually quite a bit of traffic between Utah and Japan. There is much more business going on in Asia then Paris. This route will make Delta more money then the SLC/Paris route. Delta could have all of economy empty and if the Business Class section is full it will make money. I intend on using the flight from now on. Was a loyal United flyer but will happily change my flight to Delta if it means a non-stop.

suewho | 4:39 p.m. June 3, 2009

hey sue get a clue

The Flight will do Well... | 5:00 p.m. June 3, 2009

What most of the nay-sayers here do not realize is that this flight will only carry a small amount of Tokyo-SLC local passengers. Northwest, having it's Asian hub in Tokyo, collects passengers from not only the Tokyo region, but from all over Asia, which will connect thru SLC, Delta's Western Hub, to numerous points throughout the US, Canada and Mexico. This flight dovetails with other flights at either end of the route, dispersing traffic from both ends. It will do well.

Asia Flyer | 5:07 p.m. June 3, 2009

So is this a true non-stop flight or do you still have to stop in SFO and go through customs? I was excited when I started seeing non-stop from JPN to SLC, but then I noticed the fine print that said there was actually a stop in SFO, but the flight number from JPN to SFO and SFO to SLC was the same.

If this is a true non-stop flight I would be interested to hear how the customs clearance went as I didn't think that SLC was setup for that.

RE: Asia Flyer | 5:50 p.m. June 3, 2009

This is a true non-stop. SLC Int'l has been set up to handle customs for over a decade, but has only been used for irregular charter flights since no regular international flights were flying into SLC, yet.

Nay-syers | 5:55 p.m. June 3, 2009

Delta bringing this flight into SLC is really smart!!!! As stated above, this will put passengers from Japan into SLC in which these people will connect on other flights accross the US. Had they brought the flight into SFO or LAX Delta would get less passengers on Delta flights losing them to other airlines. I think you will see more and more flights into SLC that will connect with other flights out of SLC accross the country. I think Delta had some great vision with this. Sue, you lack vision.

Jordan T. | 6:22 p.m. June 3, 2009

I really love Denver and all, but the thought of seeing people taking a connecting Delta flight from there to get to Tokyo cracks me up, lol.

RE: Nay-syers | 7:17 p.m. June 3, 2009

Tell me how many chose a connection flight over a non-stop? NONE. If passengers have a choice of MANY non-stops from Tokyo to all over the country, they will take it over a connection, any day. And to the RE: Sue, I hope your company has at least 40 company people taking this flight DAILY. Remember this plane requires daily passengers of 250+ to be profitable. Every company has business travelers, but not in and through SLC. It just is not a business hub for a large plane. If it was a 50 seat regional jet, maybe so, but it isn't. Airlines don't make money moving passengers on connections. They make money on Non-Stops.

Call me Happy | 7:25 p.m. June 3, 2009

Now with direct flight my grand-daughter who resides in tokyo can now have her parents put her on the plane and I will greet her in SLC. Will get to see her several times a year instead of just once. Wonder how many other situations like mine there are. We won't exactly keep the planes full but we'll help.

Anonymous | 6:55 a.m. June 4, 2009

So many "experts"!

A_Chinese_American | 7:15 a.m. June 4, 2009

This is great move for Delta. I would be flying to China and have a short stop over Tokyo next year.

All right! | 7:47 a.m. June 4, 2009

Used to fly United, but now love Delta. Not having to deal with connecting flights or customs in Cali? Priceless. I hope these flights last for a long time to come.
Yatta ne!

Re: Re: Naysayers | 9:27 a.m. June 4, 2009

My company does have travelers regularly going to Tokyo, and Korea, and China, and Europe, and Mexico, and South America, etc. Probably not 40+ to NRT per day but you missed my point: We're one of thousands of companies in Utah, many of which are part of a global business structure like we are. I was simply giving an example of why it could work. If it doesn't, it doesn't. But who are you and what is your expertise to say it won't even before it really gets started? What do you know that the Delta execs who do it for a living don't? Get over yourself already.

P.S. It's not a daily flight and probably won't be for a while.

Re: Asia Flyer | 9:35 a.m. June 4, 2009

What part of the title "Salt Lake International Airport" do you not understand?

SLC is well equipped to receive travelers through customs and has been for years. In fact the Customs and Immigration area went through a major overhaul last year to accommadate the influx of incoming travelers as part of the new SLC-CDG route. Even before then international travelers have been arriving for years from Mexico and Canada.

And to the other "expert" out there (Re: Asia Flyer @ 5:50 PM), there has been regualar international flights into SLC for many years now. I take the MEX-SLC direct flight probably six times a year and it began about 4 years ago. There are also regular flights in from PVR and GDL, but those are only some, the ones I know personally from experience.

Funny | 12:04 p.m. June 4, 2009

I find it funny that so many people know so much more than the delta people.

Do you all think that delta just jumped right into this without thought, reason, or research?

Instead of pessimism, go do research of your own.

Must be | 12:53 p.m. June 4, 2009

A dull day is this even news worthy? where do we live? Bumblebuck Missouri?

Re: Must be | 1:14 p.m. June 4, 2009

I think a direct flight to Tokyo from SLC is newsworthy, especially for those of us that travel frequently, rather for business or pleasure.

P.S. You let us know when Bumblebuck, Mo. gets a direct flight to Japan.

RE: Asia Flyer | 1:39 p.m. June 4, 2009

If you think going through Customs in SLC would be easier than in Cali, then ask them why they took my wooden statues in SLC because they were carved out of endangered wood???? Who was the wood expert, not a Customs Officer. I have taken many trips to Mexico and brought back these same items in Los Angeles without them even thinking something wrong. I can only wait to see what else they start taking away from our Tokyo passengers. Word gets out about this and more reasons to take Cali Non-Stops will increase.

Anonymous | 2:01 p.m. June 4, 2009

# of non-stop flights from SLC to NRT = 1
# of non-stop flights from LAS, PHX, DEN, BOI, ABQ, MCI, STL, OMA, plus all of the smaller regional cities that connect through SLC = 0
Northwest / Delta have non-stops to Tokyo from LAX, SFO, PDX, and SEA, which all make a lot of sense due to the O/D traffic from those cities, but none of them have the feeder traffic of SLC, so it's a good bet the planes will have decent loads. Also, who wouldn't rather clear customers in SLC than SFO or LAX. The fewer the number of passengers you have to fight with in customs, the better.

RE: Anonymous | 8:22 p.m. June 4, 2009

Exactly the wrong thing to say about Customs in SLC. When you give the Customs Officer more time to focus on a passenger, the more they will dig to find something. The more the passengers, like LA, the easier to blend in with the crowd and get funneled right out the door with just putting your declaration in the box. I have seen in SLC, where a Customs Officer has more time to make something out of nothing, just because he has the time to. The many times I have come in through LA, it is a nice line, but no fighting.

Italiano | 10:38 p.m. June 4, 2009

Cool. Now i have a reason to visit Japan! I would love to fly non-stop. FYI because of SLC altitude delta does not sell all of the seats on the SLC to Japan route. The plane woudl be too heavy and the cargo is worth more money than your luggage. It will still be profitable my dad works for delta and said the future bookings look good this flight will last. He said delta wants to start another long international route ASAP out of SLC but wont tell me where

Norm | 2:00 p.m. June 5, 2009

I think Delta knows what they are doing adding this flight. Sure are a lot of negative people out there! Let's see how it does; give it a chance. A good 'next' international nonstop destination would be London (LHR) or Amsterdam (AMS). They are popular destinations and many people connect from those airports to other places. Tokyo and Paris nonstops truly make SLC an international airport.

Anonymous | 3:50 p.m. June 18, 2009

United and Star Alliance partner ANA are working on a non-stop DEN to NRT. Wouldn't that cripple the SLC flight? The DEN airport is 4th busiest in the US and has been growing in passenger numbers despite fuel costs and economic downturn. DEN seems like a much stronger option--maybe Delta's SLC-NRT is an attempt to compete with star alliance.

JUNE KNAACK | 7:33 p.m. Aug. 9, 2009

Ionly want to know if Delta and partner northwest fly roundtrip from MCI TO lAS vEGAS iLOOK FOR AN ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION. pLEASE

Brian | 8:21 p.m. Aug. 11, 2009

I live in Japan and am considering different places to relocate to back in the US. Have always liked Utah, and now with this direct flight it is all the more appealing. Delta will still get the cargo income and passenger will connect to this flight from other cities as not all passengers will originate in SLC.

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3 photos

Laura Seitz, Deseret News

Tyler Carruth and his wife, Kumiko, greet Kumiko's mother and a friend after a nonstop flight from Tokyo arrived at Salt Lake City International Airport on Wednesday.

Gallery (3 photos)