Qantas, Virgin get equal access to new Tokyo Haneda slots
Virgin Australia and Qantas look set to equally share new access to Tokyo’s most convenient airport.
Virgin Australia and Qantas look set to share the spoils in the race for new slots at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport.
A draft determination issued by the International Air Services Commission has proposed each airline be awarded a new daily slot for passenger services from March 29 next year.
Qantas had applied for both slots for services from Melbourne and Sydney to Haneda, and Virgin Australia sought one slot for a new daily service between Brisbane and Haneda.
A number of submissions were received regarding the airlines’ applications from organisations such as the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Tourism Australia and Tourism and Events Queensland.
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The IASC determination said the commission agreed with the view expressed by the ACCC that “more carriers on a route generally led to greater competition and better outcomes for the public”.
“The commission finds, consistently with the ACCC’s submission, that the entry of another Australian carrier (Virgin Australia in this instance) would likely stimulate competition in the market for air services between Australia and Japan,” said the draft determination.
“The entry of another carrier on the route would likely elicit a competitive response from other airlines operating on the Australia/Japan route and would likely lead to improved services and airfare competition, providing greater benefit to the public.”
In relation to Qantas’ submission that it was the only “no risk” option for the slots, the draft determination noted that “all international aviation carried some commercial risk”.
“But the commission finds that Virgin Australia has taken the necessary steps for commercial operation into the future, addressing handling, promotion and commercial partnerships,” said the ruling.
“The commission finds that Virgin Australia is reasonably capable of obtaining any licences, permits or other approvals required to operate on and service the route, and using the capacity allocated under the determination.”
A Virgin Australia spokeswoman welcomed the draft determination.
“Virgin Australia plans to use this allocation to operate a daily service between Brisbane and Haneda from March 29, 2020 and bring strong competition and choice to the market,” said the spokeswoman.
“We can’t wait to provide guests with the best value fares and our unique Virgin experience to Japan.”
The airline intended to use an A330-200 aircraft on the route, but it is not yet clear if that will mean pulling out of another route in order to make the aircraft available.
Qantas is expected to use one slot to either schedule an additional daily flight between Sydney and Haneda, or replace its existing Melbourne-Narita service, with one to Haneda.
The slots became available following an expansion of Haneda Airport ahead of next year’s Tokyo Olympics.
The expansion created the capacity for 50 additional slots, 25 of which were awarded to Japanese airlines, and 25 that went to foreign carriers, in nine countries including Australia.
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