Impian Monalisa-All Nippon Airways (ANA) will receive about half of the 20,000 flights being added to Narita International Airport's annual capacity starting in March, say insiders at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
The new flights are part of ANA's plans to strengthen its international network, mainly in Asia, with the allotment of the new flight capacity to be officially announced by the ministry in January.
Japan Airlines (JAL), which is in the midst of restructuring and reducing its routes, did not make a request for a portion of the 10,000 added takeoffs and landings reserved for domestic carriers. This is apparently partly because the airline needs to secure enough aircraft for the increased number of flight slots slated for Haneda Airport, also known as Tokyo International Airport.
At present, JAL has about 47,000 of Narita's annual 200,000 fights, against ANA's 26,000. The 20,000 new flights were added by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism to coincide with the completion of a runway extension project.
JAL, which must complete its restructuring plan by January and reduce 21 international routes by the end of fiscal 2011, will likely reduce its flights in and out of Narita. ANA has requested that the extra flights left in the arrival and departure structure by JAL's route reductions be divided up fairly, and is looking to increase its share.
Until recently, JAL -- which operates more routes than ANA -- had been picking up international routes from its rival, and the new ANA flight slots at Haneda and Narita will narrow that gap.
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