The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) is inviting U.S.-based airlines to apply for daytime routes in and out of Haneda Airport in Tokyo, under a recent agreement between the U.S. and Japan.
U.S. airlines currently only can run nighttime routes through Haneda Airport.
USDOT officials recently said they soon would begin to award these routes. In addition, USDOT has granted four temporary daytime routes to the four U.S. airlines currently running nighttime routes out of Haneda. Terms for long-term deals are also in the works.
Routes have been awarded by the USDOT to American Airlines (service from Los Angeles), Delta (service from Los Angeles), Hawaiian Airlines (service from Honolulu) and United Airlines (service from San Francisco).
The proposals are the result of U.S.-Japan negotiations last month, during which changes were made to the Open Skies agreement between the two nations.
Before the changes, the Open Skies agreement stipulated that U.S.-based airlines flights into Haneda could only be offered between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. Tokyo time. Also, flights departing from Haneda with destinations in the 48 contiguous United States could only be run after midnight.
Any objections to the new allocations must be received by Tuesday. Answers to objections should be provided by April 5. Applications by airlines for planned longer-term Haneda routes are due by April 12.
More information is available online at www.regulations.gov; search for docket DOT-OST-2016-0048.
