Japan and UK expand air services agreement to include Tokyo Narita

Japan MLIT announced (24-Jan-2012) it has concluded talks with its UK counterparts and have agreed to expand their bilateral air services agreement, removing flight restrictions at Tokyo Narita Airport, effective from summer 2013 when the annual slots at Tokyo Narita increase to 270,000. The agreement will also allow carriers from Japan and the UK to operate two daily, respectively, between Tokyo Haneda and UK, when daytime slots at the airport double from 30,000 to 60,000. The UK is the 13th nation to have an open skies agreement with Japan and the first European country to do so. Japan has similar agreements with the US and South Korea.

Airlines operating between Japan and UK during the 2011 winter schedules are as follows:

• Japanese carriers:
  • Japan Airlines: Daily Tokyo Narita-London service;
  • All Nippon Airways (ANA): Daily Tokyo Narita-London service codesharing with Virgin Atlantic;
• UK carriers:
  • British Airways:
    • Daily London-Tokyo Narita service;
    • Five times weekly London-Tokyo Haneda (three times weekly between 26-Dec-2011 and 27-Jan-2012);
  • Virgin Atlantic: Daily London-Tokyo Narita service codesharing with ANA.