Japan's raising of the number of slots at congested Tokyo Narita Airport for the first time in seven years is seen as a direct result of the new Japan-US bilateral which has forced Tokyo to accommodate more US flights.
Of the 202 weekly "new" slots, probably about half are simply reallocations. Japan has awarded 86 new slots to its own airlines and 74 to the USA. Europe and the rest of Asia received 16 slots each, while Russia gained 10. These awards become effective from 25 October, the start of Japan's winter schedule.
Of the 74 awarded to the USA, all but 22 appear to be reallocations of US carrier slots. The present "allocation" ratifies what Tokyo quietly allowed in May and June when it allowed American, Continental and Delta Air Lines to add to their tally of daily Narita flights. The carriers say that they were using spare FedEx slots even though they were operating at different times of the day.
An unspecified number of "new" slots were also reallocated from 185 that were previously set aside for special or charter flights. Cargo carriers were the only beneficiaries of the additional 22 US slots: 16 went to Polar Air Cargo, four to FedEx and two to UPS.
Tokyo's allocation between Japanese carriers weighed strongly in favour of All Nippon Airways with 44, followed by JAL's 28 and Japan Air Systems' 14. Even with these latest slots, new incumbent ANA will still control less than a quarter of Japanese carriers' Narita slots.
Predictably, the Europeans continue to complain that they have been short changed in favour of the USA. Japan Airlines also claims that, by awarding 37% of the new slots to the USA, Tokyo is perpetuating an historic imbalance against Japanese carriers.
Source: Airline Business
