San Diego International Airport, the nation’s busiest single-runway commercial service airport, is about to get busier. “This announcement creates an even stronger tie between Japan and San Diego,” said Ruben Barrales, president and chief executive officer of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce. “It will certainly help to attract more Asian investment to San Diego, and create more jobs in our region,” he said. Beginning in December, Japan Airlines (JAL) will offer direct service between San Diego and Tokyo Narita International Airport for the first time, according to Katie Jones, spokesperson for the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority. The nonstop flight will be aboard the 787 Dreamliner aircraft. It will mark the first time JAL will have a presence in San Diego. In December, flights are scheduled to depart Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at noon. Return flights will arrive at 5:30 p.m. The flights will be daily beginning in March 2013. The flight departing San Diego will take 12 hours, leaving at noon and arriving in Japan at 4:55 p.m. the next day. Return flights will depart Narita International Airport at 5:30 p.m. and touch down in San Diego at 10:30 a.m. for a 10-hour flight. The new service will start several months before the completion of the airport’s expansion, Jones said, with JAL operating out of Terminal 2 East. Made by Boeing, the 787 Dreamliner seats 210 to 290 passengers. It is considered a midsize, wide-body aircraft and needs less runway than the older generation wide-body aircraft. Lindbergh field’s runway is 200 feet wide and 9,401 feet long. The Dreamliner is smaller than the British Airways 777, which is the largest aircraft that operates out of Lindbergh Field, Jones said. In the 12-month period ending May 2011, Lindbergh Field averaged 556 aircraft operations a day, according to AirNav.com, a company providing aviation information. In 2010, Southwest Airlines was the leading carrier, handling 38.45 percent of the passenger load at Lindbergh Field. United Airlines was second with 15.3 percent, followed by Delta Airlines with 10.9 percent, according to the Airport Authority.