Shopping luring Japanese to Las Vegas

Thursday, Feb. 4, 1999 | 11:59 a.m.

Japan Airlines said Wednesday it will add a fourth nonstop flight from Tokyo to Las Vegas in April.

And Travel industry leaders expect the company to add a fifth by summer, which would result in daily Tokyo-Las Vegas service between two airlines.

Irene Jackson, manager of public relations for JAL, Japan's largest international air carrier, said the company will add a Wednesday flight on an as-yet-undetermined date in April.

JAL already operates flights Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. The company flies Boeing 747 jets nonstop from Tokyo to McCarran International Airport. The return operations stop in Los Angeles before the trans-Pacific leg.

Minneapolis-based Northwest Airlines has operated nonstop flights on 747s to and from Tokyo on Mondays and Thursdays since June.

That leaves Saturday as the only day of the week without a nonstop flight -- but that could change by the summer.

Carlos Tello, manager for purchasing and reservations for the Japan Travel Bureau office in Las Vegas, said JAL is gearing up for a Saturday flight if the new Wednesday service is successful. Tello said advanced bookings are promising.

"This will give us a lot more flexibility," Tello said of his tour packaging enterprise.

With departures to and from Japan every day, Tello said he can develop multiple-night stay packages of any length.

Jackson did not confirm any JAL plans beyond the Wednesday flights beginning in April.

Doug Killian, director of international communications for Northwest, said his company, which was the first to fly the Tokyo-Las Vegas route, has no plans to add flights. He said the route had strong numbers in the summer when the flight was introduced, but passenger counts have declined in the off season.

Tello said Las Vegas' growing retail presence is what is bolstering tourism from Japan.

"The recession has hit Japan very hard and that could continue for another year or so," Tello said. "But that means the Japanese are changing their spending priorities."

He said most Japanese can't afford to own their own homes or cars and are satisfied with their housing and the domestic transportation system. That leaves food and clothing as spending priorities. Since goods are so expensive in Japan, many Japanese gladly make travel a shopping experience.

Tello said some items that Americans find expensive cost considerably more in Japan, which is why Japanese buy what many would consider to be big-ticket items.