Following bilateral talks in Tokyo earlier this month, the governments of Japan and the United States have now agreed to amend their Open Skies air services agreement to allow for daytime Japan-US flights out of Tokyo Haneda.
The Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLITT) said in a statement that under the terms of the amendment reached with the US Department of Transportation (DOT), all four night-time Tokyo Haneda slot pairings allocated to US carriers will be switched to day-time.
Additionally, a fifth daytime Haneda slot pair will be made available to US carriers which will also be able to continue operating one nighttime slot pair. The changes, if ratified, will come into effect from October of this year.
Tokyo Haneda slots are highly sought after given the airport's close proximity to downtown Tokyo. Tokyo Narita, in comparison, is located 60km east of Tokyo's CBD.
At present, the Japan-US passenger market is served by JAL - Japan Airlines (JL, Tokyo Haneda) and ANA - All Nippon Airways (NH, Tokyo Haneda) on Japan's behalf while the US is covered by: American Airlines (AA, Dallas/Fort Worth), Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson), Hawaiian Airlines (HA, Honolulu), and United Airlines (UA, Chicago O'Hare). Additional Fifth freedom operators include: China Airlines (CI, Taipei Taoyuan), Singapore Airlines (SQ, Singapore Changi), and Korean Air (KE, Seoul Incheon).
Cargo operators active in the market include: Cargolux (CV, Luxembourg), NCA - Nippon Cargo Airlines (KZ, Tokyo Narita), Polar Air Cargo (PO, New York JFK), SkyLease Cargo (GG, Miami International), and FedEx Express (FX, Memphis International).
