Continental, United, Delta, American Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines seeking access to Tokyo Haneda

Continental Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines separately submitted (16-Feb-2010) or announced plans to submit applications to the US Department of Transportation to provide services from select US destinations to Tokyo Haneda Airport. The carriers are seeking rights under the Dec-2009 Japan-US open skies agreement, which is anticipated to come into force later this year. The open skies agreement would provide US airlines access to Haneda, with its close proximity to Tokyo's central business district, for the first time in over 30 years. The airlines are competing for four daily slot pairs. [more - Perspective]

Details include:

• Continental Airlines: Continental and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Continental Micronesia, submitted a joint application to provide nonstop service from the carriers' hubs in New York-Newark and Guam to Tokyo Haneda. The proposed nonstop service to Haneda would commence in late 2010, pending approval, and would use B777 aircraft from Continental's Newark hub, and B767-400 aircraft from Continental Micronesia's Guam hub; [more - Continental]
• United Airlines: Plans to provide services from San Francisco to Tokyo Haneda using B777-200 equipment; [more - United]
• Delta Air Lines: Plans to offer service between Haneda Airport and Seattle, Detroit, Los Angeles and Honolulu, effective 31-Oct-2010, subject to approval. The carrier plans to service the routes with A330-300, B747-400, B747-400 and B747-400 equipment, respectively. Delta stated the importance of its application is "underscored by the fact that Delta's SkyTeam Alliance is the only global network without the ability to compete at Haneda"; [more - Delta Air Lines]
• American Airlines: Plans to operate year-round daily scheduled services from New York JFK and Los Angeles to Haneda, effective 01-Oct-2010 with B777 equipment; [ more - American Airlines]
• Hawaiian Airlines: Plans to introduce twice daily services between Honolulo and Tokyo Haneda, effective in late Oct-2010, utilising B747-300ER and A330-200 equipment. Japan is Hawaii's second-largest market for visitors. [more - Hawaiian]