A daily, nonstop flight between Denver and Tokyo starts today. The United Airlines route was scheduled to begin in March, but that was before Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner was grounded for battery issues. Boeing says the problem’s fixed. There will be some big names on today’s inaugural flight, including Denver Mayor Michael Hancock and Colorado Tourism Director Al White. The city courted the new route for more than a decade, and officials say it will create more than 1,500 jobs in Colorado and generate more than $130 million a year in economic benefits. Ryan Warner talks to Bill Swelbar of MIT's International Center for Air Transportation at MIT, and Jane Okun Bomba, a vice president of Englewood-based IHS, Inc., which does business in Japan.
[Photo courtesy Denver International Airport.]
