JAL - Japan Airlines (JL, Tokyo Haneda) has locked in its IATA 2023 international summer schedules and confirmed that it will deploy the A350-1000 next winter on the Haneda - New York JFK route. Ahead of that happening, the airline says the increasing demand on the long-haul route will see the existing daily B777-300ER flights go to double daily this summer.

In a media statement issued on February 2, Japan Airlines said there would be a "sequential introduction" of the A350-1000 on the 13,156-kilometre route from November. "With the introduction of the Airbus A350-1000, we are developing new cabin specifications for international flights to provide a new unprecedented experience for each and every one of our customers," the statement said, before adding that details of those new specifications were not yet finalised.

The existing Japan Airlines B777-300(ER) product on the route seats 244 passengers, including 147 in economy, 40 in premium economy, 49 in business, and eight in first. The A350-1000 typically seats between 350 to 410 passengers in a standard three-class configuration, less for a four-class cabin (assuming Japan Airlines replicates the existing four-class cabin configuration). The airline has thirteen A350-1000s on order, none of which have arrived, but the first is expected in mid-2Q 2023.

Japan Airlines also confirmed that it would switch from using Terminal 1 at New York's JFK Airport to Terminal 8 on May 28. Terminal 8 is used by Oneworld partner American Airlines (AA, Dallas/Fort Worth). "This will shorten the minimum connecting time required for American Airlines-operated flights within the US and to cities in Central and South America," the statement read.

Meanwhile, over the upcoming northern summer, the airline said it would also go double daily on the Tokyo Haneda - Singapore Changi route, currently operated by a mix of B767-300ER and B787-9 aircraft and increase frequencies on the Tokyo Haneda - Manila Ninoy Aquino International route, currently serviced by the B767-300(ER). Out of the carrier's longstanding Tokyo Narita hub, Japan Airlines said it "will maintain routes that offer convenient connections to third countries, while continuing to strengthen our network with North America, Asia, and China, including the three low-cost-carriers in our group." The airline also said that services to Honolulu will be maintained over the summer from Narita, Haneda, Osaka Kansai, and Nagoya Chubu, with frequencies increasing in peak holiday times.