Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Andrew Mollet/TOKYO
The aviation pact between Japan and the USA is expected to spur additional global airline alliances, with a key provision of the air services agreement allowing for codesharing for the first time in the lucrative Japanese-US market.
Under the bilateral aviation pact signed by Japan and the USA on 30 January, Japanese and US carriers can codeshare freely, US airlines can codeshare among themselves on many operations to Japan and beyond, and US carriers can codeshare with third-country airlines on operations to and beyond Japan.
Japanese and US airlines are already working towards three major Pacific alliances. Northwest Airlines, which plans a partnership with Continental Airlines, has initiated talks with Japan Air System (JAS). Similar discussions involve American Airlines and Japan Air Lines (JAL), and United Airlines and Lufthansa - key participants in the six-airline Star alliance - are courting All Nippon Airways.
United, one of three US "incumbent" carriers in the market, will more than double its number of weekly flights between Chicago and Tokyo, and Gerald Greenwald, United's chairman, expects the new deal "-to open up opportunities to expand the scope of and scale of the Star alliance".
The pact allows American, Continental and Delta Air Lines to offer more flights to Japan. Continental believes it has "the strongest case" to be awarded new frequencies from hubs in Newark, New Jersey, and Houston, Texas, as well as new routes for Continental Micronesia between Japan and US Pacific destinations.
Meanwhile, American says that it is prepared to begin operating new routes to Japan, including Chicago-Tokyo flights. Trans World Airlines has already applied for a St Louis-Tokyo route.
Some sensitive issues remain to be worked out, including access to Tokyo Narita Airport. Several airlines are seeking to buy surplus landing slots from FedEx.
Delta seeks to serve additional Japanese cities, and Leo Mullin, the airline's chief executive, says that the pact is meaningless unless the slot issue is resolved. "We are reserving total enthusiasm for the deal until we get the slots situation totally buttoned up," he adds.
JAL endorses this, pointing out that the single largest limitation to expansion in Japananese-US routes is the restricted number of slots available at Narita.
Japanese reaction to the successful conclusion of the talks is mixed. The most positive reaction has come from All Nippon Airways (ANA), which has been given unrestricted access to the USA for the first time. It plans to begin flights from Tokyo and Kansai to such key destinations as Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle and Honolulu in the next few months, president Kichisaburo Nomura says.
ANA is also aggressively pursuing tie-ups with US airlines. It already has a codesharing agreement with Delta between Tokyo and Los Angeles, and admits that it is talking to other airlines.
JAL, meanwhile, says the pact will only serve to widen the imbalance between Japan and the USA. Nevertheless, it is to increase frequencies on existing flights and to open new routes, such as Nagoya-Los Angeles and Hiroshima-Honolulu this April. It says that it expects to reach a codesharing agreement with American "soon".
Japan's third airline JAS, meanwhile, is little affected by the deal, since its routes are essentially short-haul. It is, however, looking to reinstate flights to Honolulu within the next couple of years using Boeing 777s. It adds that it will use its codesharing partner Northwest to gain access to the USA.
Source: Flight International
