United Airlines launched the Tokyo/Narita – Kaohsiung route on July 11.
The route will operate one round-trip daily throughout the year using Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The travel time is 4.5 hours from Tokyo/Narita and 3 hours and 50 minutes from Kaohsiung. The flight number will be the same as the Tokyo/Narita – San Francisco route.
Direct flights to major cities and taking advantage of Narita as a hub for smaller cities allow for network expansion with appropriately sized aircraft. About half of the travelers are expected to be transferring from North America, with a schedule allowing for around 2-hour transfers.
Before the departure of the first flight, a ceremony was held in front of the gate, where Kenichi Kiriyama, United Airlines Vice President of Sales for Asia-Pacific, and Wang Shaoxun, Director of the Taiwan Tourism Association Tokyo Office, gave speeches. After the ribbon-cutting, they took commemorative photos with passengers holding fans.
This route is operated by China Airlines, EVA Air, Tigerair Taiwan, and Thai AirAsia. It provides one-stop access from various locations across the United States, complementing the San Francisco/Guam – Taipei/Taoyuan route and covering southern Taiwan.
United Airlines currently operates nine routes from Tokyo/Narita, including those to Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York/Newark, Guam, Saipan, Cebu, and Ulaanbaatar. The winter schedule will include the Tokyo/Narita – Koror route. The recently launched Cebu and Ulaanbaatar routes are also performing well.
