AMERICAN AIRLINES MARKS 10 YEARS OF FLYING BETWEEN SAN JOSE AND TOKYO

Gateway Continues to Play Important Role in Airline's Global Strategy

What do cherries, asparagus and more than 1 million travelers have in common? They've all been big fliers on American Airlines between San Jose and Tokyo over the last decade.

On March 2, 1991, American Airlines launched service from San Jose International Airport to Tokyo's Narita Airport. Ten years and nearly 3,200 departures later, a shiny American Airlines Boeing 777 will repeat the historic flight tomorrow.
"We are thrilled to reach this milestone," said Mike Gunn, American's executive vice president for marketing and planning. "Our flights have had a significant impact on the San Jose economy by transporting more than 1 million passengers and carrying more than 134 million pounds of cargo since we started service. When we launched the route in 1991, we operated just six days a week. Now we offer daily service with the jewel of our fleet, the Boeing 777."

"On behalf of San Jose International Airport and the entire Silicon Valley region, I extend my congratulations to American Airlines on its 10-year anniversary," said Airport Director Ralph Tonseth. "American's Tokyo route has helped transform San Jose International Airport into a major international gateway, moving people and products across the globe."

American's San Jose-Tokyo flights carry millions of dollars worth of products each week, and by bringing California agricultural products to Japanese consumers, the flights have given a big boost to the agriculture sector in Santa Clara, San Benito, Santa Cruz, and Monterey counties.

With $28.2 billion in exports, San Jose now ranks as the second biggest exporting city in the country and Japan is San Jose's largest market, with more than $3.5 billion in annual exports. Cherries, asparagus and electronics are the top commodities shipped on American's San Jose-Tokyo flights.
San Jose will continue to play an important role as American expands service to Asia. On April 1, the airline will launch nonstop service between San Jose and Taipei. And when American starts nonstop service to Paris later that day, it will be the first time that the airline has launched service from the same gateway to cities on two continents, across two oceans, on the same day.

American's 5,154-mile journey from San Jose to Tokyo begins each day when flight 129 departs at 12:30 p.m. Eleven hours and 10 minutes later, the aircraft touches down at Narita at 4:40 p.m. the next day after crossing the International Date Line. Return flight 128 departs Narita at 6:10 p.m. Tokyo time and arrives at San Jose at 10:05 a.m. local time the same day. Due to tail winds when flying eastbound, the return flight is a relatively "brief" eight hours and 55 minutes.

American's Boeing 777 aircraft have 235 seats arranged in three classes of service. All of American's Japan flights feature International Flagship Service with both Western and Japanese menu selections and there are Japanese-speaking flight attendants onboard to make Japanese travelers feel at home.