Qantas seeks to take over Tokyo Haneda slots being handed back by Virgin Australia

Qantas wants the valuable Tokyo Haneda Airport slots being handed back by Virgin Australia which experienced poor demand for its flights from Cairns.

Shibuya crossing in Tokyo. Picture: Getty Images

Qantas is seeking to snap up valuable airport slots in Tokyo which are being handed back by Virgin Australia because it has been unable to fill its flights from Cairns.

Virgin announced in July it would withdraw from the route next February, due to the slower than expected recovery of inbound visitor numbers travelling from Japan to Australia.

The move was likely to benefit Qantas, which immediately applied to the International Air Services Commission for the slots at Haneda Airport.

In its application, Qantas proposed to add a third daily service between Australia and Tokyo Haneda from March 30, 2025.

Qantas executive manager of policy, industry and international affairs Anna Pritchard said it was anticipated an A330 aircraft configured with 297 seats would operate on the routes.

“It is planned that Qantas will serve Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to and from Tokyo-Haneda with the addition of a third daily service,” Ms Pritchard said.

Qantas currently operates 28 flights a week between Australia and Japan, including daily flights from Brisbane and Melbourne to Tokyo Narita, and twice daily from Sydney to Haneda.

Jetstar flew daily from Brisbane and Cairns to Tokyo Narita, and operated 11 flights a week to Osaka from Sydney, Brisbane and Cairns.

Since Japan reopened its borders to international visitors in late 2022, Australian travellers have flocked to the country in numbers that far exceed pre-Covid levels.

Bureau of Statistics data for July showed Australian visitors to Japan were up 55 per cent on the same month in 2019.

The bright neon lights of Shinjuku in Tokyo. Picture: Getty Escape

By contrast, Japanese people have been much slower to return to Australian shores, and numbers are still about 35 per cent below pre-pandemic levels.

The weaker yen was considered a major factor in the imbalance, as Australians are enjoying good-value Japanese holidays but visitors to Australia face a much more expensive experience.

International airline activity data showed Virgin Australia’s flights to Japan were not well patronised in either direction; 52 per cent of seats were filled outbound and 39.5 per cent inbound.

Virgin had no choice but to use narrowbody Boeing 737s on the eight-hour flight from Cairns to Haneda, while Jetstar operated widebody 787-8s and typically charged a lower fare.

The airline was granted the slots at Tokyo Haneda before Covid-19 struck following a fierce battle with Qantas which had argued it was the “safest bet” to make use of the access.

Haneda is considered a preferable airport to Narita because of its closer proximity to Tokyo’s CBD.

Virgin Australia had intended to fly A330s from Brisbane to Haneda from late March 2020 but pandemic-related border closures put a stop to that.

That was followed by Virgin Australia’s descent into administration and the airline’s new owner, Bain Capital, deciding to simplify the fleet to all 737s.

Despite the limitations of the narrow-body aircraft, Virgin Australia would not give up the slots and hatched a plan to fly new 737 Max 8s from Cairns instead of Brisbane.

Virgin has advised that anyone with tickets on the flights beyond February 2025 would be refunded.