Delta Launches Nonstop Flight from Salt Lake City to Tokyo

June 4, 4:12 PMSalt Lake City Aviation ExaminerAaron Mentzer

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Delta (the new, merged Delta-Northwest) now offers nonstop flights between SLC and Tokyo-Narita (NRT). Photo credit: Andrew Sieber/flickr 

Yesterday, Salt Lake City International Airport inaugurated its first nonstop flight to Asia, when DL 4261 took off around 1:35 pm. It is the first Transpacific flight originating in the Mountain West, and joins Paris as the second major overseas destination served nonstop from Salt Lake City.

The 11 hour, 50 minute flight will be available five times per week, and will be operated using Airbus A330-200 jets - the first time scheduled A332 flights will visit Salt Lake City International. With the new Salt Lake-Tokyo flights, Delta flies to 106 destinations including 12 international cities.

The jets will continue to feature the Northwest Airlines livery until "later this fall," according to a Delta spokesperson. The A330-200s are some of the newest planes in the fleet, and the airline is focused on painting older aircraft first.

Utah officials are excited about the potential economic benefits of this direct flight to Japan (and the 14 Asian destinations offered as connections from Tokyo). Some figures predict that this flight alone will generate a boost of $90 million and 1,100 jobs for the state economy. Those figures may sound high, but Utah's export trade has grown 31 percent this year as a direct result of the nonstop SLC-Paris flight that started last June.

Delta has advertised this new flight heavily, with billboards, radio, and online ads all around the state. Although some airline industry fans wonder about the viability of the flight, Delta is positive that this flight will perform well - citing the example of the SLC-Paris service, which has been a solid performer since it launched last year. According to a Delta spokesman, the flight is "very popular with West Coast and SLC customers."

For more info: KSL has a video of the water cannon salute greeting the arriving flight from Tokyo here.