Stemming from their "bad conscience" about World War II and military as well as economic collaborations with the United States, the Japanese have been very enthusiastic about American airplanes over the last decades. Japanese airlines are well known to be suckers for Boeing planes and have generally been among the first to order new American built aircraft. Even though the Japanese aviation market would be ideally suited for the A380, no major Japanese airline has ordered any of the European super jumbos (Skymark being the only exception).So it just makes sense that, after delays of more than three years, Japan Airlines (JAL) today received its first 787 - the second airline in the world to operate Boeing's Dreamliner, after main competitor ANA. Japan Airlines announced it would operate the 787 on routes to the U.S. (Boston, San Diego) as well as Europe (Helsinki, Moscow) and closer markets in Asia (Beijing, Singapore, New Delhi). In contrast to ANA, JAL's routes appear to make much more sense for the long-range 787. ANA's first Dreamliners have been flying mostly to nearby cities as the planes were much heavier than originally announced, reducing the aircraft's range immensely.
To read more about JAL's 787, please click here to read an article in Bloomberg Businessweek.
