British Airways is to introduce the only direct air service between the UK and Japan’s second largest city from early next year when it inaugurates a link between London Heathrow and Osaka Kansai.

The four-times weekly service will begin on 31 March 2019 and be operated by one of the carrier’s newest aircraft, the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.

The new route takes the number of daily flights between London and Japan offered as part of British Airways’ joint business with Japan Airlines up to 32 per week.

“Our partners Japan Airlines and Finnair have demonstrated that Osaka is a hugely popular route with leisure and business travellers alike, so we are excited to launch direct flights from London, giving customers another gateway,” said Sean Doyle, British Airways’ director of network and alliances.

“This new route will also open up more opportunities for companies to explore and build business in the region so we’re expecting this new service to be well received by our customers.”

According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, the estimated number of international travellers to Japan in July 2018 was a record 2.8 million, up 5.6 percent on the same month in 2017. Japanese tourism is set to grow from 24 million annual visitors in 2016 to 40 million in 2020.

Hideki Oshima, Japan Airlines’ executive officer international relations and alliances, said “Not only does it provide more choices and greater convenience for our passengers traveling between Japan and Europe, but it is also great news for the Kansai region.

“We look forward to serving our mutual customers through our codeshare service and contributing to the regional economy in Osaka.”

Japan Airlines will offer a codeshare on the new service, while British Airways is also adding four cities to its joint business agreement with the Japanese carrier. The BA code will be put on flights between Tokyo Haneda and Miyazaki, Kumamoto, Komatsu and Matsuyama.

Previously, British Airways served Osaka until October 1998. The new service covers a distance of 9,531 km with a journey time of approximately 12 hours and 20 minutes.

According to data from Sabre Market Intelligence, the number of passengers flying between Europe and Japan was almost 6.2 million in 2017, up by 7.7 percent on the previous 12 months. The overall market size is about 17,000 passengers a day and British Airways had a 4.3 percent share of this last year.

Currently there are four non-stop Europe - Osaka services, with Lufthansa operating a route from Frankfurt; KLM from Amsterdam; Finnair from Helsinki; and Air France from Paris Charles de Gaulle.

An estimated 17.5 percent of passengers flying from London Heathrow to Osaka Kansai last year connected via Amsterdam, while 15.0 percent flew via Finnair’s Helsinki hub. Hong Kong, Frankfurt and Paris completed the top five connecting markets.

Largest scheduled operators between Europe and Japan (2013-17):

https://infogram.com/europe-and-japan-airline-operators-2013-17-1h7v4pk…