San Jose Resumes Japan Air Travel

—Written by Bay City News 

Months after its Boeing 787 Dreamliners were grounded due to battery problems, All Nippon Airways resumed flights from San Jose to Japan Saturday. 

ANA resumed service at San Jose International Airport Saturday afternoon with its first flight to Tokyo's Narita International Airport in about six months, according to airport officials. 

The nonstop Dreamliner flights between the two airports came to a halt in January after a pilot had to make an emergency landing at Japan's Takamatsu Airport due to a battery failure on a 787. 

Since that time, ANA grounded all Dreamliner flights and worked with the Boeing Company, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure Transport and Toursim to completed required safety modifications to the plane's battery system, according to San Jose airport officials.

The airline resumed San Jose-Tokyo service with its first flight set to depart at 1:05 p.m., according to ANA. 

"We are pleased to resume 787 services between San Jose and Tokyo today," ANA President and CEO Osamu Shinobe said in a statement. "This is an important route for ANA, and we expect it to grow." 

Shinobe said the company plans to increase its service from San Jose from five times weekly to daily flights by the end of September. 

San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed also expressed his excitement at the return of the trans-Pacific flight service and thanked ANA "for their continued diligence in ensuring passenger safety and for their commitment to offering Silicon Valley businesses and travelers a convenient connection to Japan and the Pacific Rim."

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