Beginning in March 2020, Delta will transfer its full
U.S.-Tokyo operations from Narita to Haneda. The carrier's announcement comes
as the U.S. Department of Transportation on Friday issued final approval to the
tentative allocation given earlier this year of 12 daytime slots at Haneda,
which is much closer to downtown Tokyo than Narita. Delta received the largest
share of those slots, enabling service to Haneda from Seattle, Detroit,
Atlanta, Honolulu and Portland, Ore., in addition to its current service from
Los Angeles and Minneapolis. The new slots will make Delta the U.S. carrier with
the largest service to Haneda.
With the change, Delta also is moving its flights that
connected beyond Narita. As of March, it will switch Narita-Manila service to Seoul-Manila
service, where it can capitalize on its joint business with Korean Air. Much
sooner, on Sept. 22, Delta will end its service from Narita to Singapore,
leaving Korean Air to fill the service gap to the city-state.
United Airlines also gained four slots to Haneda from the
DOT allocation. United will serve Haneda from Newark, Chicago O'Hare,
Washington Dulles and Los Angeles. American Airlines will add new service to Haneda
from Dallas/Fort Worth and expand its service to Haneda from Los Angeles.
Hawaiian Airlines also gained an additional slot to Haneda from Honolulu.