On February 2, JAL held a ceremony at Haneda Airport to commemorate the 70th anniversary of its international flight service.
The first flight was Haneda – Wake Island (refueling) – Honolulu – San Francisco on February 2, 1954. At that time, it took 31 hours to reach San Francisco including connections (today it takes about 9.5 hours by direct flight). A special charter tour following the same route as the first flight at that time was operated on January 27, and is described in a separate article.
The ceremony was performed on JL74 flight from Haneda to Honolulu at 21:00. The aircraft was a Boeing 787-9 (239 seats).
Yuji Akasaka, President and Representative Director, took the podium in front of Gate 114 of Terminal 3. “Japan Airlines was founded in 1951, and three years later, in 1954, we became the first Japanese airline to operate international flights after the war,” he said, “Seventy years ago today, we started international flights to San Francisco with a Douglas DC-6B (nicknamed the City of Tokyo ) to San Francisco, and now we have expanded our network to countries around the world. In order to continue to develop air transportation, we will continue to place the highest priority on safe operations and earth-friendly flights, and welcome our customers with the hospitality of our country,” he said, pledging to make further progress.
In front of the gate, a team that also included JAL flight attendants performed hula, and when boarding began, Akasaka personally handed out 70th anniversary commemorative gifts to passengers.
Flight JL74, with 208 passengers (plus 6 infants), departed at 21:02 and took off for Honolulu at 21:23.
© Source travel watch