Delta Air Lines Inc. is “disappointed” with the outcome of U.S.-Japan aviation negotiations, which ended Feb. 18 with an amendment to their Open Skies agreement allowing the first daytime landing slots for international flights into Tokyo’s Haneda airport.
Five each will go to U.S. and Japanese airlines seeking better access to the downtown airport, which is situated much closer to the city than Delta’s hub at Narita.
Delta has said that U.S. airlines allied with Japan Air Lines and All Nippon Airways will be at an advantage, inevitably siphoning off traffic from its Narita hub and threatening its route structure in Japan, including its longstanding nonstop flight between Atlanta and Tokyo. The flight has helped smooth the way for more than 400 Japanese companies to set up shop in Georgia. Delta has no alliance partner in Japan.
Delta would rather have seen Haneda completely opened to ensure what it sees as more robust competition. The airline warned again in a statement that its operations will likely be impacted.
“Delta is deeply disappointed with the final agreement reached today between the U.S. and Japanese governments to incrementally open the Tokyo-Haneda airport. Tokyo-Haneda will remain a severely restricted airport with limited competition. Delta is committed to doing our best to maintain the viability of our current Asian route structure and our Tokyo-Narita hub for as long as possible, recognizing that commercial impacts are imminent. Delta will make a careful assessment and adjust our network accordingly,” Peter Carter, executive vice president and chief legal officer, said in the statement.
Read an AJC story here about the threat to Delta’s Tokyo flight and Asia route structure.