For the 18th straight year, Japan Air...

For the 18th straight year, Japan Air Lines claims to be the largest single foreign corporate purchaser of American goods and services. The airline spent $1.4 billion in the fiscal year ended last March 31 for aircraft, related operating and fuel expenses and for its 1,000 workers in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Hawaii, Chicago and Anchorage.

Over the past 18 years since the carrier began keeping tabs on its U.S. expenditures, JAL says it spent a total of $12.2 billion on U.S. goods and services. Its passenger and cargo revenues totaled $3.8 billion since 1970.

Separately, Nikko Hotels International, a major JAL subsidiary, has purchased hotels in the United States, including the Essex in New York; Nikko Chicago and Nikko San Francisco. It is building a new Nikko in Atlanta.