Nonstop to Tokyo will be a boon

Boston-based IBM software executive Jeff Calow recently returned from a business trip to Japan, connecting through San Francisco, and after a delayed flight lengthened his four-hour layover, he wound up watching CNN in the San Francisco airport for nearly seven hours on his way home.

“Trading that for a 13-hour flight would be great,’’ he said. “It will definitely save time and save aggravation.’’

The nonstop flight will improve productivity, too.

“Not having to fly through Chicago or the West Coast saves you one full business day one way or the other,’’ said Jon DiVincenzo, executive vice president of the bioscience business unit at EMD Millipore. The Billerica medical equipment maker does $300 million a year in business in Japan — its second-biggest market after the United States.

Roger Servison, president of strategic new business development for Fidelity Investments, said the flight also could lead to new business opportunities. Fidelity employees make dozens of flights each year from Boston to the company’s offices in Tokyo. The nonstop flight, he said, might increase travel between the two cities, which could generate more business.

“The more you’re over there, the more you learn, the more opportunities you might find,’’ he said.

Companies that do business in Asian countries beyond Japan may also benefit from the flight. Boston-based employees of Procter & Gamble travel frequently to the consumer products’ company offices in Singapore, Shanghai, Beijing, and Kobe, Japan. Now, those cities will be easier to reach, said spokesman Damon Jones.

“It’s making that entire region of the world more accessible,’’ he said.

The flight is a victory for city and state officials who had been lobbying airlines for years to get nonstop service to Asia. Massport had been trying to land more nonstop international destinations since 2008, when it launched an incentive plan that grants marketing initiatives and waives or discounts landing fees for up to two years — a savings of up to $1 million. Overall, the Massachusetts Port Authority estimates that the new service will have a $175 million economic impact on the region each year.