Japanese long-haul, low-cost airline ZIPAIR has announced plans to add San Francisco as its fourth US destination. The low-cost subsidiary of Japan Airlines plans to offer direct flights between Tokyo Narita International Airport (NRT) and San Francisco International Airport (SFO) this summer. However, an exact launch date has yet to be confirmed.
ZIPAIR launched non-stop services to nearby San Jose Airport in December. With the addition of San Francisco, the Japanese airline is strengthening its presence in the Bay Area – a key area for the Japanese market.
The airline plans to use a Boeing 787-8 to operate the 5,000+ mile route, which will have a total capacity of 290 passengers, including 18 fully reclining business class seats.
Photo: Courtesy of Boeing Global Services
“We are very excited to welcome the ZIPAIR service between SFO and Tokyo this summer,” said Ivar C. Satero, airport director at SFO. “With this move, travelers can enjoy ZIPAIR’s fantastic value for money along with SFO’s award-winning, world-class airport experience. We thank ZIPAIR for choosing SFO and are committed to making this new service a success.”
ZIPAIR is a relative newcomer to the aviation industry, having formed in the summer of 2018. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, it had to postpone the start of passenger services and initially operated only cargo flights that year. However, the company started commercial passenger flights in late 2020, and its fleet of four Boeing 787-8s now flies to six international destinations worldwide.
The Japanese carrier currently flies to Bangkok (BKK), Seoul-Incheon (ICN), Singapore Changi (SIN), Honolulu (HNL), Los Angeles (LAX) and San Jose (SJC) from its central hub in Tokyo Narita. San Francisco will be their seventh and fourth destination in the United States
ZIPAIR Inaugural San Jose Airport / Photo: Courtesy of ZIPAIR
The Japanese carrier will face intense competition on the Tokyo-San Francisco route as three airlines already operate non-stop flights between the two cities. United Airlines, All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Airlines (JAL) operate all passenger services between SFO and Tokyo’s two airports – Narita and Haneda (HND). However, Zipair becomes the first low-cost airline to connect the two cities.
In addition to serving in San Francisco, ZIPAIR announced plans to begin direct flights to Manila Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL) in the Philippines later this year.
“San Francisco has very strong demand from both Japan and Asia, Manila is seeing an increase in traffic to and from Japan, and more and more people are traveling from the Philippines to North America,” said Shingo Nishida, Zipair’s president.
