United Airlines Looking To Expand Operations To Haneda Airport

United Airlines — the wholly owned subsidiary of United Continental Holdings (NASDAQ:UAL) — filed an application with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) in a bid to expand its footprint in Japan and attract additional traffic. Notably, this Chicago-based carrier has sought permission to operate daily non-stop flights to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport from six U.S. international airports.

In the summer of 2020, United Airlines plans to commence operations to Haneda after the slots are awarded from its hubs at Newark Liberty, Chicago O'Hare, Washington Dulles, Los Angeles International, Houston George Bush and Guam. The aviation agreement between the United States and Japan is expected to be completed later this year.

Per United Airlines’ application, the flights to Haneda from Newark, Los Angeles and Guam would be in addition to the daily flights between the above three hubs and Tokyo’s other international airport — Narita. However, the non-stop flights to Haneda from its hubs at Chicago O'Hare, Washington Dulles and Houston George Bush would be shifted from Narita.

With the Olympics to be held in Tokyo next year, the routes are likely to invite substantial traffic. Accordingly, other U.S. carriers — Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) and American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL) — have also applied for slots at Tokyo's Haneda Airport.

While Delta is bidding for five slots, American Airlines has sought permission for four. With leading carriers interested to fly to Haneda, investors would keenly look forward to DOT’s decision on the applications.

Zacks Rank & Key Pick

United Continental carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Investors interested in the airline space may consider Azul S.A. (NYSE:AZUL) sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Azul has an impressive history with respect to earnings per share, having trumped the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, the average being 97.9%.

Breakout Biotech Stocks with Triple-Digit Profit Potential

The biotech sector is projected to surge beyond $775 billion by 2024 as scientists develop treatments for thousands of diseases. They’re also finding ways to edit the human genome to literally erase our vulnerability to these diseases.

Zacks has just released Century of Biology: 7 Biotech Stocks to Buy Right Now to help investors profit from 7 stocks poised for outperformance. Our recent biotech recommendations have produced gains of +98%, +119% and +164% in as little as 1 month. The stocks in this report could perform even better.

See these 7 breakthrough stocks now>>