American Airlines (AA) announced on July 1, 2026 that it will launch daily nonstop service between Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) and Tokyo Narita International Airport (NRT) beginning March 27, 2027—the airline's return to the market after a seven-year absence dating to December 2019.
The flight operates with a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner configured across three cabins: 30 Flagship Business seats, 21 Premium Economy and 254 Main Cabin, totalling 305 seats. Flight AA153 departs ORD at 12:35 PM, arriving NRT at 3:30 PM the following day; return AA154 departs NRT at 5:50 PM and arrives ORD at 4:20 PM. American Airlines Newsroom
The service will operate under American's trans-Pacific joint venture with Japan Airlines (JAL), feeding JAL's Asia network beyond Narita—including Bangkok, Delhi and Singapore. American currently serves Tokyo Haneda from Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles and New York JFK, and Narita from DFW; the ORD–NRT launch adds a sixth Japan gateway.
With the announcement, American joins the increasingly competitive ORD–NRT market: JAL already operates daily ORD–NRT service, All Nippon Airways (ANA) covers the route for United Airlines, and United itself announced its own daily ORD–NRT launch for October 2026. The new ORD–NRT route becomes American's 11th long-haul destination from O'Hare. Travel Weekly | Business Travel News
Sources & references (5)
Things to do at each end of the route
Top-rated tours & experiences in Chicago and Tokyo.