Canada signs expanded air agreement with Japan

On 1 October 2011 the Canadian Ministers of International Trade and Transport announced that Canada had negotiated new air services arrangements with Japan (see previous post).

Australia concludes open air services agreement with Japan

On 30 September 2011 the Australian Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Hon Anthony Albanese, announced that Australia had negotiated a new open air services agreement with Japan. For Australian airlines the arrangements include time-restricted access to Haneda airport in Tokyo and open access to Narita airport from 2013. While described as "open skies", some slot-related restrictions on access to these Tokyo airports remain for the time being. Also included are fifth freedom rights for Australian airlines beyond Japan to third countries.

On 16 August 2011 the Qantas group had announced that it will be entering into a new joint venture with Japan Airlines and Mitsubishi Corporation to establish Jetstar Japan. Although announced as a domestic operation, this new joint venture could qualify to use Japanese international air rights.

UK has air services negotiations scheduled with Japan

The United Kingdom Forward Programme of Possible Bilateral Air Services Talks published by the Department for Transport has negotiations scheduled for September 2011 with Cuba, Egypt and Turkmenistan.

More interestingly it states that the UK has negotiations scheduled with Japan for 17-19 January 2012. With the recent talks with Canada (see previous post), Japan is clearly starting to work through a priority list of countries outside of East Asia (see previous post) as it implements its "open skies" policy.

Japan negotiating "open skies" agreement with Canada

CAPA reported that Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MILT) announced on 9 September 2011 that it would be negotiating an open skies agreement with Canada commencing on 13-14 September 2011 in Vancouver.

MILT noted that this would be only the second such agreement outside of East Asia, the first having been with the United States (see previous post).

Alleged air cargo rate fixing case reaches court in New Zealand

The NZ Herald reported on court action taken by the Commerce Commission into alleged price fixing by nine international airlines serving the New Zealand market (see previous post) on:

9 May 2011 - "Airlines' price fix case starts in court"
11 May 2011 - "Air cargo cartel case opens in High Court"
12 May 2011 - "Qantas fined $6.5m for price fixing"
12 May 2011 - "Air NZ in court as price-fixing case gets under way"
13 May 2011 - "Qantas hit with record $6.5 million fine"
14 May 2011 - "Cartel case out of line, say airlines"

The Commerce Commission has made a number of media releases on the case:

20 March 2009 - "Commerce Commission procedure in accordance with standard best practice"
11 March 2011 - "Court of Appeal rules on use of confidentiality orders"
18 March 2011 - "Settlements in cartel case as Commerce Commission prepares for Court"
5 April 2011 - "$7.6 million imposed against two airlines in air cargo cartel case" - British Airways and Cargolux
20 April 2011 - "Commerce Commission narrows focus of air cargo cartel case before trial"
27 April 2011 - "Airlines' information request case resolved" - Singapore Airlines Cargo and Cathay Pacific
12 May 2011 - "Court awards highest penalty to date in price fixing" - this statement notes similar action taken in Australia, the United States, the European Union, Canada and South Korea

Air New Zealand has also issued related media statements:

18 March 2011 - in response to a Qantas media statement issued on the same day
20 April 2011

On 17 May 2010 the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) announced that it was taking action against Air New Zealand. On 18 May 2010 Air Transport World reported Air New Zealand's reaction.

On 11 November 2010 the NZ Herald reported that Air New Zealand had been dropped from similar action taken by the European Commission (see previous post).

Singapore concludes "open skies" agreement with Japan

On 2 February 2011 Airport News Japan reported on the 20 February 2011 announcement by Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism that an "open skies" agreement had been negotiated between Singapore and Japan.

Japan concludes "open skies" agreement with South Korea

On 17 January 2011 Tokyo Tomo carried a report that at negotiations held on 21-22 December 2010 Japan and South Korea had reached an "open skies" agreement. Excluded, however, is access to Haneda where airport slots remain tightly constrained.

Japan announces priorities for "open skies"

A 17 December 2011 story from AFP carried by channelnewsasia.com reported that Japan was giving priority to negotiating "open skies" agreements with South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia. Interesting is Japan's new willingness to cover access to Narita (NRT) in these agreements.

Alliances approved, Japan-USA 'open skies' signed and Haneda open for international flights ...

... in that order.

On 6 October 2010 the US Department for Transportation announced that it proposed to approve alliances between American Airlines and Japan Airlines, and separately between United Airlines, Continental Airlines and All Nippon Airways (DOT-OST-2010-0059 refers).

On 25 October 2010 the US Department of State announced that 'open skies' air services arrangements had just been signed between Japan and the United States (see previous post).

On 31 October 2010 Mainichi Daily News reported that Haneda Airport (HND), close to central Tokyo, opened for international air services. Flightglobal reported that the first international flights by JAL and ANA actually departed on 30 October, just before midnight, and reported that the airport's new, fourth runway and international terminal opened on 21 October. International landing and takeoff slots at Haneda are very limited and have been sought by many countries.

The Airline Route web site currently has a section devoted to the new Haneda international services and links to a Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism document on the subject dated 23 October 2010 (in Japanese).

New Zealand's recent air services negotiations

The New Zealand Ministry of Transport's Annual Report for the year ended 30 June 2010 has just been tabled in Parliament and published. It includes a brief section on air services arrangements:

Air services: The Ministry continued working through the issues outstanding in air services negotiations with the European Union. However, given the differences between our respective positions on significant issues, it was difficult to reach a mutually acceptable position. Further negotiations were put on hold pending further developments on either side. 

Negotiations were also held with Papua New Guinea in March 2010 where an understanding was reached on liberalising some elements of the air services arrangements.

New Zealand–Japan air services agreement: An agreement was reached with Japan on amendments to the New Zealand–Japan air services agreement to permit the operation of Boeing B777-300 aircraft on the route.

Japan considering "solidarity" tax on international air travel

On 28 September 2010 the Asahi Shimbun reported that the Japanese Government is considering introducing a 'solidarity' tax on international air transport.

Chile, France and South Korea already has such a tax in place with the money being used to fund UNITAID NEW.

Japan and Indonesia expand bilateral air services arrangements

A 26 April 2010 weblog post on Airline Route reported on the expansion of capacity, route and code sharing opportunities for Japanese and Indonesian airlines.

An official press release in Japanese details the outcome of the air services negotiations that were held in Jakarta on 20-22 April 2010.

United States reaches "open skies" arrangements with Japan

On 11 December 2009 the US Department of Transportation announced that the United States and Japan had initialed historic "open skies" arrangements after five rounds of negotiations (see previous post).

The text of the new arrangements (a Record of Discussions, Memorandum of Understanding and new route Annex) has been made available on the US Department of State web site.

Japan continues to negotiate new air services arrangements with the USA

On 5 November 2009 the Japan Times carried a report from Bloomberg noting that a further round of air transportation negotiations will be held over three days in Washington DC this week.

On 4 November 2009 Aviation Week, quoting US State Department negotiator John Byerly, reported that it is possible that these talks may result in an "open skies" like agreement being initialled (see previous post).

The US is known to use the granting of anti-trust immunity as bait, making an "open skies" agreement a precondition for doing so.

Currently both Delta Air Lines (SkyTeam) and American Airlines (oneworld) are reported to be bidding to provide a much needed equity injection into Japan Airlines which is in financial difficulties after massive recent financial losses (see previous post). Seeking Alpha has a 13 November 2009 post providing some background.

In addition, new runway slots are becoming available at Narita and Haneda airports in the Tokyo area (see previous post). The US has previously tried to tie slot availability into its air services arrangements with Japan, while for its part Japan has considered that the US airlines already hold a disproportionate share of Tokyo airport slots.

If such an agreement is reached it would be a major step towards achieving APEC's 2010 Bogor Declaration goals with respect to trade in air transport services.

Government of Japan working on financial problems at Japan Airlines

On 1 October 2009 the Asahi Shimbun reported that the new Japanese Minister of Transport Seiji Maehara as saying that the government will not allow Japan Airlines, currently in serious financial difficulty, to fail.

Japan and Poland agree to capacity increase for airlines

On 9 October 2009 the Japan Times carried a report that Japan has agreed a capacity increase from two to 10 flights per week and access for Polish airlines to Narita, Tokyo from March 2010 when additional slots become available.

New Government in Japan proposes opening Haneda to more international air services

On 13 October 2009 and 16 October 2009 the Japan Times reported on a proposal by the new Minister of Transport Seiji Maehara that Haneda Airport in Tokyo be turned into a 24-hour hub airport with both domestic and international air services. The New Zealand experience has been that a significant number of visitors from Southern Japan do travel via Incheon in Korea bearing out a comment made in the second article.

To date almost all long-haul international air services to Tokyo have operated to Narita Airport. On 22 October 2009 Narita will open an extension of Runway B to 2,500m. More slots will become available in March next year as a kink in the taxiway is straightened following a small land acquisition.

Japan concludes new air services arrangements with Papua New Guinea

On 24 August 2009 Flight Global reported that Japan and Papua New Guinea had negotiated new air services arrangements. This included doubling capacity for airlines from Papua New Guinea to Narita (Tokyo) from one to two per week. The deal comes at a time when the extension of the second runway at Narita is about to be opened.

The article also notes that the Papua New Guinea government is subsidising the weekly Air Niugini flight to Tokyo.

"Open skies" for Japan with the USA?

A 16 September 2009 story from Kyodo reports that Japan and the United States intend to accelerate their efforts to achieve an "open skies" agreement this year. the next round of negotiations is to be held in Tokyo from 26 October.

An incentive for Japan noted by Aviation Law Prof Blog would seem to be a wish to have anti-trust immunity granted for commercial tie ups between, All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines and their respective US alliance partners. One has to wonder whether the leverage this provides is being undermined by the recent proposal from Representative James Oberstar (see previous post) and comments from the US Department of Justice.

There has also been reporting on either American Airlines or Delta providing an equity injection into financially troubled Japan Airlines.

Switzerland and Japan increase air services opportunities

Following negotiations held between Switzerland and Japan on 1-2 July 2009, on 3 July 2009 Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism NEW announced (in Japanese) that the routes and capacity for air services by the airlines of the two countries have been expanded (see previous post). Airline Route Updates provided a summary NEW in English.