BajaNews - 9-30-2006 at 12:43 PM
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/tijuana/20060930-9...
By Diane Lindquist
September 30, 2006
TIJUANA – Aeromexico plans to start nonstop service from Tijuana International Airport to Tokyo Nov. 16, Baja California state tourism secretary
Alejandro Moreno Medina announced yesterday.
The flights will originate in Mexico City with a stop in Tijuana before proceeding to Narita International Airport outside Tokyo. The airline plans
two flights each way every week.
“This is good news for us. We've been pushing for two years,” Moreno said at a news conference yesterday morning. “Many people around the state of
Baja California and Southern California will consider this option.”
The flight is one of the few nonstop international flights from the San Diego region. British Airways provided nonstop service from San Diego to
London for several years but stopped the service a couple of years ago.
Aeromexico officials did not attend the event. Moreno said he had permission from the company to publicize the news.
Fares are expected to be comparable to other trans-Pacific fares, approximately $800 one way in tourist class and $1,500 one way in business class.
A new Boeing 777 will be used on the route, Moreno said. The plane can carry 274 passengers in coach and 49 in business class, he said.
“It has all the latest technological innovations,” he said.
Tim Smith, president and chief executive of San Diego Travel Group, said the flight looks attractive. “We have no other viable alternative,” he said.
“You have to go to Los Angeles.”
Most direct international flights from San Diego fly to the Mexican interior.
Smith predicted the flight would draw travelers from both sides of the San Diego-Tijuana border area and would be particularly attractive to Japanese
executives who work in Baja California's maquiladora manufacturing plants.
“The big question,” Smith said, “is what is the trans-border trip going to be like.”
Because the flight leaves Tijuana International Airport at 2 a.m. Tuesdays and Fridays, that might not be a problem. The outbound flight originates
shortly before midnight in Mexico City. It arrives at Narita about 5:30 a.m.
Return flights from Narita to Tijuana International Airport will be scheduled on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Moreno said the flight will be a major new connection to all of Asia. Aeromexico, which has an alliance with Korean Air, is working on arrangements
that would give passengers service to Shanghai and Beijing.