New nonstop service from L.A. to Osaka, Japan, to begin in March

Japan Airlines announced Monday that part of its service expansion plans this year include adding daily nonstop flights between Los Angeles and Osaka, Japan, the country’s third largest city.

A recent statement from the airline says it will fly Boeing 787 Dreamliners starting March 20 on the U.S.-Asian route. Flights will leave L.A. (LAX) at 11:20 a.m. and return from Osaka’s Kansai International Airport (KIX) at 3:20 p.m.

New service also was added between Nagoya and Bangkok, Thailand. “JAL becomes the only Japanese airline to operate nonstop flights on these two international routes,” the statement says.

The airline also said passengers can connect with 37 destinations on partner American Airlines.

Airways News reports that the service could help increase traffic to Kansai, which was built on an artificial island in Osaka Bay. It handled 20.5 million passengers in 2000, but that number dropped to about 13 million in 2009 and 2011, the year the deadly Fukushima earthquake hit.

With the help of budget airlines, the airport has increased the number of passengers to Osaka to about 17 million a year, the news story says.

JAL also operates flights between L.A. and Tokyo’s Narita International Airport (NRT).