American Airlines last week shifted its operations at Tokyo's Narita International Airport from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2, joining Oneworld alliance member-elect Japan Airlines and partner Qantas Airways. Cathay Pacific was expected to join them Jan. 21, as Oneworld consolidates its Narita operations.
AA's move will mean shorter connecting times for passengers catching alliance flights in the same terminal, officials said. "Our Terminal 1 connect time is 110 minutes, and our new connect time will be 70," American Airlines executive vice president of marketing Dan Garton told BTN this month. "That's like a domestic connect time. Time will tell how that will play out, but if you connect that with JAL entering Oneworld, it becomes pretty significant for us. Suddenly we'll have solid connections to cities in Asia, such as Bangkok, Hong Kong and Korea—places where in the past, we've been in the market, but you would have a two-hour connection."
American last week opened an Admirals Club in Terminal 2, replacing one in Terminal 1. Cathay Pacific also will open a lounge.
JAL, which in 2005 announced its provisional membership in Oneworld, will become a full-fledged member early this year. Oneworld manager of corporate sales Eileen Yeager told BTN that the carrier and fellow members-elect Malev Hungarian Airlines and Royal Jordanian Airlines already are included in corporate sales efforts. "They are participating in requests for proposals as of January," she said. "Because of the time from RFP to implementation, they will be full supporting members and delivering Oneworld clients."
JAL Eyes Short-Haul OptionsAfter posting a ¥47 billion net loss in 2005, JAL steadily is regaining financial ground lost on domestic routes. The launch of promotional campaigns and the rollout of its business class seat has helped to stimulate domestic passenger demand. Better aircraft utilization, a result of route network restructuring and aircraft downsizing, has led to higher load factors and increased profitability on international routes. The carrier continues to reconfigure its fleet and network to help it take advantage of further improvements planned at Narita and Haneda, Tokyo's other airport, which services primarily domestic locations.
"With a more stable financial situation expected this year, the JAL Group will be able to take full advantage of the opportunities for growth that will arise when Haneda's fourth runway opens and Narita's second runway is extended in 2009," said JAL spokesman Stephen Pearlman. "The expansion of Narita capacity will help us expand our profitable routes and enable better aircraft utilization. At Narita, we also expect to offer better service, with nearly all of the Oneworld alliance members grouped together under the same roof."
Haneda capacity is expected to increase by 40 percent, from the current 295,650 flights a year to 407,000 in 2010. Pearlman said 30,000 of these will be short- to medium-haul international flights of up to 1,250 miles.
"This means a big advance in capacity between Japan and Asian countries, notably China and Korea," he said.
In November 2006, JAL received delivery of its first Boeing 737-800NG, which it will use on domestic routes, beginning in March. A second 737-800, to be delivered in March, will be used on both domestic and international routes. Ten of the 30 737-800s on order will be used internationally. Fleet composition will change from nine aircraft types and a total fleet of 279 aircraft at the end of 2005 to eight types and 296 aircraft at the end of 2010, when the average age of the international fleet will decrease from 11 years to 8.5 years. "We have to take maximum advantage of this opportunity," Pearlman said. "That is partly why we are currently concentrating on developing our fleet with more small and medium-capacity aircraft."
JAL sees China as a key part of its strategy. JAL's international network now serves 13 Chinese cities on 30 routes with 271 flights a week. JAL in 2006 increased flight frequencies between Japan and Shanghai, Xiamen and Guangzhou, and plans to increase from two to five weekly flights from Nagoya to Tianjin on March 1, pending government approval. "We have expanded bilateral codeshare agreements with China Eastern Airlines and Xiamen Airlines on the Fukuoka–Shanghai, Osaka-Kunming and Osaka-Hangzhou routes," Pearlman said.
JAL will find itself filling the void of alliance partner American, which this month was rejected by the U.S. Department of Transportation in a bid to offer new direct flights to China
(see story).However, JAL has reduced service between Japan and the United States, including Hawaii, and the United Kingdom.
BTN
editors Jay Boehmer and Chris Davis contributed to this story.