Sayonara, Narita: The Rise and Fall of Delta's Tokyo Hub
Delta Air Lines has finally gone and done it. After threatening to close its hub at Tokyo Narita airport for nearly a decade, the carrier finally will do it next year as it shifts its focus to the closer-to-downtown Haneda Airport.
Five new routes will launch from Haneda (HND) next year, a move that will allow Delta to exit from Narita (NRT) in favor of the close-in Tokyo airport.
From around the end of March 2020, the SkyTeam Alliance carrier will offer daily flights from Haneda to seven US cities: Atlanta (ATL), Detroit (DTW), Honolulu (HNL), Los Angeles (LAX), Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP), Portland (PDX) in Oregon, and Seattle-Tacoma (SEA). The company will end service to Singapore (SIN) this September, and shift service to Manila (MNL) to Seoul Incheon (ICN) from Narita next March.
Tokyo will become a spoke, albeit a large spoke, in Delta’s Asia network. Seoul will be its main hub in the region under its partnership with Korean Air.
It is the end-of-the-line for Delta’s Tokyo hub, with a long and storied history that dates back to Northwest Airlines.
Northwest Roots
Northwest landed in Tokyo with flights via the Great Circle Route beginning on July 15, 1947, beating Pan Am to the city by two months.
Related: Choosing the Best Credit Card for Delta Flyers
During the next several decades, those two carriers built hubs in Tokyo, first at Haneda and then at Narita after it opened in 1978. They benefited from fifth-freedom rights, which allows an airline to carry paying passengers between two foreign countries where it is not based.
Northwest served seven cities from Tokyo by the time it introduced the Boeing 747 in 1970, and 14 cities by 1986. The hub was carefully balanced between flights from the US connecting to flights into Asia. At the time, most cities in East Asia were beyond the range of long-haul aircraft used for flights from the US mainland.
As for Delta, it landed in Tokyo in 1987 with one-stop service from Atlanta via Portland, Oregon.
Tokyo continued to be a major transit point for Northwest into Asia until its merger with Delta. In October 2008, the month the deal closed, Northwest served 19 cities from Narita: Bangkok (BKK), Beijing (PEK), Busan (PUS), Detroit, Guam (GUM), Guangzhou (CAN), Hong Kong (HKG), Honolulu, Los Angeles, Manila, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Portland, Saipan (SPN), San Francisco (SFO), Seattle Tacoma, Seoul Incheon, Shanghai Pudong (PVG), Singapore and Taipei (TPE), according to Diio by Cirium schedules.
Delta Decade
Delta took over Northwest’s Narita hub with great expectations. Prior to the merger, the airline lacked a significant presence to Asia. But the combined Delta-Northwest network made it the number one carrier to Japan. That was even ahead of United Airlines, which had its own Narita hub after acquiring Pan Am’s Pacific assets in 1986.
But, as Seth Kaplan and Jay Shabat outline in their book Glory Lost and Found, the gradual liberalization of flight rights at Haneda that began in 2010 -- coupled with the expansion of flights directly into Asia -- put Delta’s Narita hub at a disadvantage. Business travelers preferred Haneda for Tokyo travel and nonstops to places like China over a connecting itinerary.
Delta’s schedule at Narita peaked in 2011 with nonstop service to 22 destinations in Asia and the US, Diio schedules show.
Since then, the carrier has slowly been dismantling its Narita hub. Delta cut at least one route to the airport in almost every year from 2011 to 2018, according to Diio.
- 2011: Salt Lake City (SLC)
- 2012: Busan
- 2013: Seoul
- 2014: Beijing, San Francisco
- 2015: None
- 2016: Bangkok, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York JFK, Osaka Kansai (KIX)
- 2017: Taipei
- 2018: Guam, Palau (ROR), Saipan, Shanghai
Delta replaced the Narita flights with either a flight to Haneda or a nonstop from the Asia gateway it established in Seattle in late 2012; some destinations were cancelled outright.
“It’s the loss of the connecting traffic that will kill the [Narita] flights,” said Delta's then-chief legal officer Ben Hirst in 2016.
That appears exactly what has happened to Narita. With business travelers bound for Tokyo preferring Haneda and just two connecting spokes left beyond Narita, it makes little sense for Delta to continue the operation.
Once US regulators finalize the awards of 12 new Haneda flights to US carriers -- Delta is poised to take five flights -- the Atlanta-based airline can finally say, "Sayonara Narita."
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- Earn 3X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with airlines or on AmexTravel.com.
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Rewards Rate
| 4X | Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on purchases at restaurants worldwide, on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year. |
| 4X | Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent at US supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year. |
| 3X | Earn 3X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with airlines or on AmexTravel.com. |
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You may be eligible for as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards® Points after spending $6,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer.As High As 100,000 points. Find Out Your Offer.Annual Fee
$325Recommended Credit
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Why We Chose It
There’s a lot to love about the Amex Gold. It’s a fan favorite thanks to its fantastic bonus-earning rates at restaurants worldwide and at U.S. supermarkets. If you’re hitting the skies soon, you’ll also earn bonus Membership Rewards points on travel. Paired with up to $120 in Uber Cash annually (for U.S. Uber rides or Uber Eats orders, card must be added to Uber app and you can redeem with any Amex card), up to $120 in annual dining statement credits to be used with eligible partners, an up to $84 Dunkin’ credit each year at U.S. Dunkin Donuts and an up to $100 Resy credit annually, there’s no reason that foodies shouldn’t add the Amex Gold to their wallet. These benefits alone are worth more than $400, which offsets the $325 annual fee on the Amex Gold card. Enrollment is required for select benefits. (Partner offer)Pros
- 4 points per dollar spent on dining at restaurants worldwide and U.S. supermarkets (on the first $50,000 in purchases per calendar year; then 1 point per dollar spent thereafter and $25,000 in purchases per calendar year; then 1 point per dollar spent thereafter, respectively)
- 3 points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with the airline or with amextravel.com
- Packed with credits foodies will enjoy
- Solid welcome bonus
Cons
- Not as useful for those living outside the U.S.
- Some may have trouble using Uber and other dining credits
- You may be eligible for as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $6,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. Apply to know if you’re approved and find out your exact welcome offer amount – all with no credit score impact. If you’re approved and choose to accept the Card, your score may be impacted.
- Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on purchases at restaurants worldwide, on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
- Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent at US supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
- Earn 3X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with airlines or on AmexTravel.com.
- Earn 2X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on prepaid hotels and other eligible purchases booked on AmexTravel.com.
- Earn 1X Membership Rewards® point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases.
- $120 Uber Cash on Gold: Add your Gold Card to your Uber account and get $10 in Uber Cash each month to use on orders and rides in the U.S. when you select an American Express Card for your transaction. That’s up to $120 Uber Cash annually. Plus, after using your Uber Cash, use your Card to earn 4X Membership Rewards® points for Uber Eats purchases made with restaurants or U.S. supermarkets. Point caps and terms apply.
- $84 Dunkin' Credit: With the $84 Dunkin' Credit, you can earn up to $7 in monthly statement credits after you enroll and pay with the American Express® Gold Card at U.S. Dunkin' locations. Enrollment is required to receive this benefit.
- $100 Resy Credit: Get up to $100 in statement credits each calendar year after you pay with the American Express® Gold Card to dine at U.S. Resy restaurants or make other eligible Resy purchases. That's up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually. Enrollment required.
- $120 Dining Credit: Satisfy your cravings, sweet or savory, with the $120 Dining Credit. Earn up to $10 in statement credits monthly when you pay with the American Express® Gold Card at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, and Five Guys. Enrollment required.
- Explore over 1,000 upscale hotels worldwide with The Hotel Collection and receive a $100 credit towards eligible charges* with every booking of two nights or more through AmexTravel.com. *Eligible charges vary by property.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees.
- Annual Fee is $325.
- Terms Apply.