Florida To Get Its First-Ever Flight to East Asia, and It’s Definitely Interesting

We’ll say it right up front: Not all of the details for this unique flight are available yet.

What we know so far is definitely surprising, though. The state of Florida doesn’t currently have any nonstop flights to East Asia — none, not to any locations. However, there will be a few nonstop flights between Orlando and Tokyo in early 2026.

This isn’t a permanent flight, it involves a low-cost Japanese carrier, and it’s a charter operation. If all of that sounds confusing, we don’t blame you. Here’s a closer look.

ZIPAIR To Operate Orlando-Tokyo Flights in 2026

Days after Orlando’s secondary airport started its only international route, Orlando’s main airport is shaking things up by planning flights to Japan.

ZIPAIR — yes, the Japanese low-cost airline with lie-flat seats that aren’t technically business class — will operate 4 round-trip flights between Orlando International Airport (MCO) and Tokyo Narita (NRT) in early 2026. MCO airport announced the news this morning.

These will be nonstop flights, and we don’t know the exact schedule yet. However, the airport has provided the following route estimates:

• Depart Tokyo in the afternoon and arrive in Orlando in the afternoon
• Depart Orlando in the afternoon and arrive in Tokyo in the evening

Flights will operate on February 23, February 28, March 5, and March 10, 2026.

Many Details Remain Unknown

How long will the flight take? That’s not entirely clear, as the airline hasn’t published route times, and there aren’t any other airlines flying the route to provide a clear comparison. However, we have a pretty good idea.

Delta‘s flight between Atlanta (ATL) and Tokyo Haneda (HND) takes 12 1/2 hours going from Tokyo to Atlanta and 14 1/2 hours in the Atlanta-to-Tokyo direction. We can expect this ZIPAIR flight to have a similar duration. That will be longer than ZIPAIR’s current longest flight to the U.S., which goes from Narita to Houston (IAH) and takes almost 12 hours going east and 14 hours flying westward.

We also don’t know how much this flight will cost. As this is a charter operation, will it be more expensive or cheaper than ZIPAIR’s typical flights to the U.S.? That remains to be seen.

Round-trip ZIPAIR flights between the U.S. and Japan can be found for a few hundred dollars quite regularly. The lie-flat cabin can sometimes cost under $1,000 one-way.

The press release from the airport says flights will go on sale in early December.

Final Thoughts

We definitely didn’t have this route on our bingo cards. ZIPAIR, the Japanese low-cost carrier with a unique lie-flat seat, will operate 4 nonstop flights between Orlando and Tokyo in early 2026.

These will be charter flights, and both the flight schedules and prices remain unknown.

There aren’t any flights between East Asia and the state of Florida presently, and this is definitely a unique operation. It allows ZIPAIR and MCO airport to test the waters in a controlled setting without needing to launch a full-scale operation. Will it generate interest and lead to more flights? Time will tell.

Consider us interested but unsure about what comes next.