Business growth in Nashville is sparking demand for more direct international flights.

Nissan representatives advocated for more flight offerings today in a preliminary meeting with airport officials and Mayor Bill Purcell.

Nissan executive Jim Morton says a direct flight to Tokyo, where major operations are based, could save him 2 or 3 hours one way.

Morton says flight offerings were taken into account when deciding to move company headquarters from California to Nashville.

“We looked at the positives and the negatives and the positives far outweighted the negatives, but certainly the fact that there’re no international air service is one of the things that was on the negative column.”

The only direct international flights offered in Nashville are to Canada and Mexico.

Nissan unveiled its design for it’s new Cool Springs headquarters yesterday. The building will house more than one thousand Nissan employees.