Why after four years since Covid there is still no direct flight between Milan and Tokyo

La Milan-Tokyo had survived even the dehubbing operated on Malpensa by Alitalia. After ten years of a difficult relationship with the Varese airport, the national airline had finally decided to bundle up and return to its 'home' in Rome Fiumicino. Two long-haul routes had survived that exodus: the Milan-New York (which appears to be discontinued in early January) and, indeed, the Milan-Tokyo. The first operated with Airbus A330-200, the second with the more capacious Boeing 777-200ER, capable of 291 passengers.

Between the northern Italian capital and the Japanese capital there have always been significant volumes of business traffic, the most profitable one. And, since the 1990s, Japanese tourists who love luxury and fashion have come to appreciate Milan's designer stores, hotels and restaurants, making the Italian city one of their destinations of choice in Europe.

In Malpensa's golden years, those when it was Alitalia's hub, Japan Airlines had come to serve the airport with its largest aircraft, the Boeing 747-400. The Japanese carrier's economic difficulties and subsequent reorganization process had taken Milan off the map of its destinations. And so Alitalia had for years enjoyed a total monopoly on the route, which seemed destined to end with The announcement (made in November 2019) of thestart of Tokyo Haneda-Malpensa connections by All Nippon Airways starting in spring 2020.

As the Rome-centric company it had always been, Alitalia's reaction was one of retreat: the Boeing 777 was replaced by a smaller A330-200, and frequencies were reduced to four a week. On the other hand, the challenge brought by ANA would, in all likelihood, have seen the then Italian flag carrier succumb.

The Japanese carrier, on the strength of its five-star Skytrax, would fly on the Haneda Airport, rather than from the one at Narita, which is much farther from downtown Tokyo. And it would put one of its Boeing 787-9 with three classes, Business, Premium Economy and Economy.

High-level products (although the top ones, The Suite and The Room, ANA has them aboard some of its Boeing 777-300ERs), so much so that the ANA's Business Class in 2023 rated by Skytrax as fourth best in the world, Premium Economy as the seventh best in the world and Economy as the ninth best. In short, all in the global top 10, with Japanese company that was even the third best in the world (again according to Skytrax), behind only Singapore Airlines and Qatar Airways.

At the best of times, however (if not for Alitalia, at least for lovers of good travel) came the Covid pandemic which froze air travel and also the Japanese carrier's plans on Milan. Alitalia itself, of course, discontinued connections with the Land of the Rising Sun. And when to resume them (To the reopening of Japan's borders, which occurred after Two-year lockdown only in June 2022) was the 'heir' to Alitalia, ITA Airways, did From Rome Fiumicino but not from Milan.

In practice, For almost four years now, there has been no direct flight connecting Milan and Tokyo, despite the fact that air travel is experiencing, with the post-Covid 'rebound', one of the greatest moments of luster since the Wright brothers invented the airplane and the demand to fly is, almost everywhere, skyrocketing. Almost, but with a few exceptions, among which is Japan itself, which is One of the countries in which demand is rising most slowly.

And then there are The consequences of the war between Russia and Ukraine, including the closure of Russian airspace affecting a great many carriers, forced to routes between Europe and the Far East much longer (up to two hours more flying time than before) and fuel-intensive. It would be mainly this factor that has, so far, held back All Nippon Airways from resuming the thread with Milan, which was severed in spring 2020 even before the inaugural flight.

The Japanese carrier has not yet restarted flights to some European destinations it had served until early 2020, such as Vienna. The hope is that Milan will not end up 'at the tail' of these. And that, Noting a winter 2023-2024 with no direct connections between Milan and Tokyo, the summer of 2024 brings with it the glad tidings of the arrival of Japan's leading airline in Malpensa.