Federal regulators have formally approved Delta Airline’s proposal to bring nonstop daily flights from Portland to Tokyo-Haneda, the Japanese capital’s central airport.

Flights will begin next spring, the Port of Portland and Delta announced in a statement Monday.

Eleven other cities were awarded new connections to Tokyo-Haneda airport at the same time. The added routes come as Japan prepares for the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Delta already has flights connecting Portland to Tokyo-Narita airport, which sits about 50 miles away from Haneda airport, five days per week. That airport is on a high-speed rail line, but the Haneda airport is closer to downtown and is increasingly shifting to become an international aviation hub after historically serving as a domestic airport. Delta estimates the new airport will cut travel times into the heart of Tokyo by an hour.

Delta will no longer fly to Narita starting next year, but it will expand flights to seven days per week. Travel times have yet to be finalized, but the airline is expected to offer two flights per day.

According to its initial federal application, Delta said Portland was its sixth largest market servicing the West Coast and Asia, narrowly trailing San Diego in daily travelers.

Portland and Japan are increasingly linked by tourism and commerce. Travel Oregon said its seen a 27% increase in Japanese travelers to Portland since 2013. Tokyo’s Shibuya neighborhood also is bustling with Portland-based brands and beer. According to the port, 150 Japanese companies have offices within 90 minutes of PDX.

“The Port of Portland and our stakeholders are thrilled with Delta’s commitment to use one of their Haneda slots to operate daily nonstop service to Tokyo from PDX,” David Zielke, PDX’s air service development director said in a statement. Delta’s long history of nonstop flights to Tokyo is a key reason our region has enjoyed strong business, tourism and cultural ties with Japan.”

Many companies like Nike, KEEN, Adidas, and Columbia Sportswear also routinely travel to Japan and have presences there.

“Having nonstop air service between Portland and Haneda, which is closer to our new Nike Japan headquarters, is vital to the success of our business. Nike employs more than 500 office personnel in the region and many more in our retail stores, and we rely on a strong network of international and domestic flights,” said Cheryl Glick, director of global meetings and events for Nike Travel.

Flights will take about 11 hours on the initial flight to Japan, and 9 hours or so on the route back to Portland

-- Andrew Theen

atheen@oregonian.com

503-294-4026

@andrewtheen

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