After a rough start to the year, Japan Airlines' new budget airline subsidiary ZIPAIR Tokyo will make its US debut with flights to Honolulu before the end of 2020.

According to a release from the Narita Airport, the budget airline will launch its flights from Tokyo-Narita to Honolulu starting December 19. The airline will use its Boeing 787-8 jets with 290 seats – including 18 fully-flat seats and 272 standard economy seats.

The release further details that ZIPAIR Tokyo will operate a total of 16 round-trip flights from Narita to Honolulu – 7 in December and 9 in January – between December 19 and January 31. Narita Airport adds that the flight plans after January 2021 will be announced later after ZIPAIR Tokyo decides on the schedule.

Image: ZIPAIR Tokyo Narita-Honolulu Flight Information (Source: Narita Airport)

After filing an application for US flight rights early this year, ZIPAIR Tokyo later received its authorization for 180-minute ETOPS operation (the Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards) from the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) in late October. The ETOPS certification allows ZIPAIR Tokyo to operate long-haul flights over the ocean for extended periods of time.

The budget airline is operating passenger and cargo flights to Bankgok and Seoul. Honolulu will be the third destination for the airline since starting operations this year.

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