July 7, 2010 - The U.S. Department of Transportation on Tuesday awarded four routes to Tokyo’s downtown Haneda Airport to American Airlines at New York, Delta Air Lines at Los Angeles and Detroit, and Hawaiian Airlines at Honolulu, with service to begin when the airport’s fourth runway becomes operational later this year.  Today’s action makes final the tentative decision of May 7.

The opportunities were negotiated in connection with the U.S.-Japan Open-Skies agreement which was concluded last December.  They permit U.S. carriers to introduce a total of four daily round-trip services at Haneda. Previously, U.S. carriers serving Tokyo have been limited to using Narita Airport, which is considerably farther from the city.

“These new flights will provide travelers with more convenient access to Tokyo,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

On December 11, 2009, the United States and Japan initialed the text of a Memorandum of Understanding (“2009 MOU”), providing for an Open-Skies regime between the two countries. The 2009 MOU permits U.S. and Japanese air carriers to provide scheduled combination services between the United States and Tokyo’s Haneda Airport when Haneda’s fourth runway becomes operational.

In this regard, DOT also make final their tentative decision to award Hawaiian exemption authority for its proposed services. Four daily slot pairs will be available to carriers from each country to provide these services. The scheduled operations will also be subject to the following conditions: 1) U.S. operations at Haneda will be permitted between 2200 and 0700 hours local time; 2) departures from Haneda to a point in the 48 contiguous U.S. states are not permitted prior to midnight; and 3) extra sections are not permitted.

By Order 2010-1-17, issued January 26, 2010, the Department instituted the 2010 U.S.-Haneda Combination Services Allocation Proceeding, inviting interested U.S. carriers to apply for allocation of the four newly available pairs of slots for U.S.-Haneda scheduled combination services. The Order also set forth a procedural schedule and evidentiary requirements for the establishment of a record for the Department to make a decision in this case.

Six carriers – American, Continental Airlines, Inc. (Continental), Continental Micronesia, Inc. (Continental Micronesia), Delta, Hawaiian, and United Air Lines, Inc. (United) filed applications for the four available slot pairs to provide daily combination services in the U.S.-Tokyo (Haneda) market.  Carriers that requested more than one slot pair were required to prioritize their requests. The requests, indicating the carrier-determined precedence, are outlined immediately below.

American requested two slot pairs for daily service from both New York (JFK) and Los Angeles using B777 aircraft.  Joint applicants Continental and Continental Micronesia requested one slot pair for Continental for daily service from Newark using B777 aircraft and one slot pair for Continental Micronesia for daily service from Guam using B767 aircraft.  Delta requested four slot pairs for daily services from Seattle, Detroit, Los Angeles, and Honolulu, and proposes to use B747 aircraft for all routes with the exception of Seattle, for which it proposes to use A330 aircraft.  Hawaiian requested two slot pairs and proposes to use both for daily services from Honolulu using B767 aircraft. United requested one slot pair for daily service from San Francisco using B777 aircraft.