The US Department of Transportation has tentatively awarded 12 new daytime slots for Tokyo Haneda service to four US carriers.
Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, which requested six flights each, were tentatively awarded five and four slots respectively.
Atlanta-based Delta received the go-ahead for proposed Haneda service from Atlanta, Detroit, Honolulu, Portland (Oregon) and Seattle. United was awarded slots for flights from Chicago O'Hare, Los Angeles, Newark and Washington Dulles.
American Airlines was tentatively awarded two slots, for service from Dallas/Fort Worth and Los Angeles. The Los Angeles flight will be its second daily service to Haneda. The Oneworld carrier's proposed service from Las Vegas failed to make the cut by the DOT.
Hawaiian Airlines received tentative approval for one additional daily roundtrip flight to Haneda from Honolulu. The airline, which already operates 11 times weekly on the route, had seeked three additional daily flights.
The 12 additional daytime flights to Haneda will allow US carriers to add new service in time for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
All four airlines already operate to Tokyo Narita from the proposed US gateways, Cirium schedules data show. However, Delta has expressed plans to move its entire Tokyo operation from Narita to Haneda, which is closer to central Tokyo. A spokesperson from the SkyTeam carrier declines to comment on the airline's future plans at Narita, pending the finalisation of the DOT's allocation.
The four US carriers that were tentatively awarded the new daytime flights already operate to Haneda, using slots allocated in an amendment to the US-Japan air services agreement reached in 2016.
Japanese and US regulators agreed tentatively in January to offer another 12 daytime slots at Haneda for US carriers. The DOT says this amendment will enter into force before the US airlines start operating the service.
Objections to the DOT's tentative allocation are due by 30 May, and responses to the objections by 10 June.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
