On Friday, March 17, 2023, a chartered Japan Airlines Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner flight touched down at Miami International Airport with Team Japan for the World Baseball Classic. This marks the first-ever flight from Tokyo to land at MIA.
On Wednesday (March 22, 2023), Miami International Airport (MIA) announced the arrival of the first Tokyo-Miami flight in the airport’s history. The chartered Japan Airlines Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner touched down just before 03:00 on Friday March 17, 2023 with Japan’s national baseball team for the World Baseball Classic (WBC). In addition to Team Japan, the 100+ passengers onboard the 13-hour flight included WBC 2023 staff and Major League Baseball employees. Upon arrival, the team was greeted in Concourse J by dozens of Japanese news media members and zealous fans. Although the charter flight was a one-off and not the beginning of scheduled service between Tokyo and Miami, airport officials were beaming with pride as they welcomed the historic flight.
In Wednesday’s announcement, Miami-Dade County Mayor, Daniella Cava, said,
“It was wonderful to welcome our first nonstop flight from Japan to Miami-Dade County, and to see the Japan Airlines aircraft parked at MIA, basking in the Miami sunshine. The MIA team continues exploring the possibility of nonstop service from Japan and other Asian markets to Miami. While there are no imminent plans for direct Asia flights, I am thrilled that hosting the World Baseball Classic gave us a glimpse of what it would be like for our two regions to be connected by nonstop air service.”
Japan's National Baseball Team Arrives at Miami International Airport for the World Baseball Calssic on Friday, March 17, 2023 - Courtesy MIA
The morning after winning the World Baseball Classic on March 21st at Miami’s loanDepot Park, Team Japan departed MIA for Tokyo. Miami International Airport hopes the milestone charter flight was just the first of more passenger flights between Japan and Miami.
Source: Miami International Airport