The daily service will commence from February 11, 2016 and will be flown using a 226-seat Boeing 787-8. American will compete directly with the existing flights of All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Delta in this market but will benefit from operating the route as part of its transpacific joint business with Japan Airlines (JAL).
The Y18 billion ($145 million) plan will see current shareholder Integral Corporation hold a 50.1 per cent stake in the low-cost carrier, with UDS Airlines Investment – a joint venture between SMBC and Development Bank of Japan –holding a 33.4 per cent shareholding and ANA a 16.5 per cent stake.
It is over 16 years since ANA last served the Australian market, but this will be the first time it has linked the country to Tokyo Haneda, where it has a significant network presence and will complement point-to-point demand with connection options to 42 domestic routes, as well as flights to North America, Europe and Asia.
The carrier said in formal correspondence with the DOT that it feels it is “not commercially feasible” to continue operate the slots allocated to Delta for Seattle-Haneda service on a consistent daily basis year-round because of variable year-round demand and a lack of partner operator in the Japanese market at the airport, close to downtown Tokyo.
All Nippon Airways (ANA) has announced that it will become the first Japanese airline to introduce the Boeing 787-9 on international routes, beginning service on its Haneda – Munich route from May 5, 2015.
As per the US-Japan bilateral agreement, US airlines may only operate a total of four daily round-trip flights at Haneda Airport. Currently that service is provided by Delta Air Lines from Los Angeles and Seattle, Hawaiian Airlines from Honolulu, and United Airlines from San Francisco.
Air New Zealand and All Nippon Airways will both introduce flights with the Boeing 787-9 early next month, with Etihad Airways, Scoot, United Airlines and Virgin Atlantic Airways also due to the fly the new stretched variant of the Dreamliner before the end of the year.
The initial tentative schedule shows the aircraft will operate twice daily on the Toronto - Halifax route from May 23, 2014 through to May 25, 2014 and then on various dates through to the end of June 2014. Alongside this domestic link, Air Canada also plans to use the aircraft on its flights from Toronto to Zurich (from May 25, 2014 to July 14, 2014) and London (from July 2, 2014 to July 13, 2014).
United will inaugurate the new route on October 26, 2014, subject to final government approval. Haneda Airport will be the tenth trans-Pacific destination that United serves nonstop from San Francisco, and the third new Asia-Pacific airport for the carrier this year.
A recently renegotiated Air Service Agreement (ASA) between Japan and Philippines will see All Nippon Airways (ANA), Cebu Pacific Air, and Philippine Airlines all introduce more regular flights between Manila and Japanese destinations during the summer 2014 schedule.
