Press Release

Tuesday, 19 October 2010:  oneworld(R)is set to be the leading airline alliance at Asia’s newest international hub when Tokyo Haneda opens to scheduled international flights at the end of this month.

 

oneworld’s member airlines there will offer:

・The airport’s most extensive international network, including the only flights between Haneda and

-      Europe, with services to both London Heathrow and Paris CDG. 

-      New York and San Francisco, in the USA.

・More international capacity to and from Tokyo Haneda than any other alliance.

・The biggest domestic schedule at what is also Japan’s biggest domestic hub.

・Minimum international-to-domestic connecting times considerably faster than competition, at just 70 minutes.

・A host of new facilities for passengers, to ensure the smoothest and most comfortable of journeys on the ground whether they are arriving, departing or transitting.

 

Speaking on behalf of the alliance’s on-line airlines there, Japan Airlines President Masaru Onishi said: “oneworld is not just the world’s premier alliance - but will also be the pre-eminent alliance at Tokyo Haneda. In the spirit of oneworld, Japan Airlines and our partners are determined to extend our sincere hospitality and offer valued customers the best quality services and network at this exciting new international gateway for our nation’s capital.”

 

A more convenient international gateway for downtown Tokyo

Haneda is the most convenient airport serving Tokyo for customers travelling to or from the city centre.  From its own station served by the Tokyo Monorail and the Keikyu train line, it takes less than 30 minutes to travel to or from downtown.

 

As Japan’s main hub for domestic flights, it also provides the widest range of options for connections to and from cities throughout the country.

 

It is being reopened to international scheduled services after a 32-year break as it inaugurates a fourth runway and third passenger terminal - a state-of-the-art facility dedicated to international flights.

 

Haneda’s widest international network

The new international passenger facility - or Tokyo International Air Terminal (TIAT), as it will be known - will open in two phases.

 

Flights to nearest Asian destinations - currently operated from Haneda as “scheduled charters” - will move to TIAT from Thursday (21 October).  In oneworld’s case, that means JAL’s twice-daily flights to Seoul Gimpo and once daily flights to Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai Hongqaio.

 

Then a week later on Sunday (31 October) JAL will will add a third daily round-trip to Seoul Gimpo - and open six new international routes from Haneda, with double dailies to Taipei Songshan and dailies to Bangkok, Honolulu, Paris, San Francisco and Singapore.

 

This means that Japan’s most experienced international airline will serve 10 international destinations in total from Haneda - more than any other carrier.

 

Also on 31 October, oneworld partner Cathay Pacific will launch two daily round trips to and from its Hong Kong base, giving a total of three daily oneworld rotations between these alliance hubs.

 

oneworld’s network from the new hub will be further expanded from 20 January, when American Airlines will inaugurate its daily New York JFK service, with British Airways to follow a month later with flights to and from London Heathrow with an initial five round-trips a week.

 

That will take oneworld’s network served from the airport to 12 destinations served by 19 departures most days - more international destinations offered from Haneda than any other alliance.

 

All JAL and American Airlines’ transpacific flights will carry the codes of both airlines while JAL and Cathay Pacific will code-share on all the flights they operate between Japan and Hong Kong. Cathay Pacific’s “CX” indicator will also been placed on JAL-operated flights connecting Haneda with 10 Japanese cities.

 

The biggest Japanese domestic operation at Japan’s biggest domestic hub

Domestically, JAL is also Haneda’s biggest operator, with 185 daily departures serving 33 points across Japan (as of 31 October, 2010).

 

More of JAL’s domestic operations at Haneda will also carry the codes of its oneworld partners under these extended agreements, making it even easier for customers to book through-flights to or from cities throughout Japan.

 

Faster connection times than any other alliance

The closest of the existing two terminals to TIAT at Haneda is Japan Airlines’ Terminal 1.

 

When the airport’s new international terminal fully opens on 31 October, oneworld will reduce its minimum connecting times for passengers arriving internationally to transfer to onwards domestic flights by 10 minutes to just 70 minutes - giving oneworld considerably faster international-to-domestic minimum connecting times than any of its rival alliances at Haneda.

 

Minimum connection times (MCT) from domestic-to-international flights operated by JAL, and from international-to-international will also be cut.

 

World-class, co-located customer facilities, including JAL’s first arrivals lounge

While passing through the airport - whether arriving, departing or transitting - oneworld passengers are promised world-class customer facilities at Tokyo Haneda.

 

JAL is opening its first arrival lounge in the world at the new international terminal, complete with shower suites, food and beverages.  This will be available to passengers arriving there in its own First Class cabins, and top tier JMB Diamond and JGC Premium members of its frequent flyer programme and, until 31 March 2011, its Executive Class passengers and members of JMB Sapphire and JGC may also use the lounge.

Japan Airlines is also commissioning new First and Sakura Lounges at the international terminal.  These will be shared by all oneworld airlines operating at the airport and open to all Emerald (First Class Lounge) and Sapphire (Sakura Lounge) cardholders in any oneworld member airline’s frequent flyer programme departing on any oneworld flight from the airport.

All oneworld airlines will be located together in the new international terminal, sharing check-in desks and kiosks on the main hall’s left side, facing the departure gates. 

 

Meantime, at Haneda’s Domestic Terminal 1, where JAL’s domestic services will continue to be based, the airline will open its renewed Diamond Premium and Sakura Lounges on Wednesday this week (20 October).  Housed on the building’s third floor, they will provide panoramic views across the runways and taxiways.  The expanded range of facilities on offer there will include a library area, shower and massage facilities and a family room, in addition to other standard lounge offerings.

 

Building on a tradition of international leadership

Before all international operations from Haneda were moved to Narita in 1978, four of today’s oneworld carriers - Japan Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas Airways - used to fly from Haneda.  The airport was the departure point for JAL’s very first international flight, in 1954 to San Francisco.  JAL added flights later from Haneda to many destinations worldwide, including Bangkok, Beijing, Hong Kong, Honolulu, Paris, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore and Taiwan - cities it will serve once again from Haneda starting 31 October.

 

About oneworld

oneworld brings together some of the best and biggest names in the airline business - American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN, Malév Hungarian Airlines, Mexicana, Qantas and Royal Jordanian, and around 20 affiliates including American Eagle, Dragonair, LAN Argentina, LAN Ecuador and LAN Peru.  Russia’s S7 Airlines will join the alliance on 15 November 2010 with India’s Kingfisher Airlines and Air Berlin now both also members elect.

Between them, these airlines:

・Serve almost 900 airports in nearly 150 countries, with some 9,500 daily departures.

・Offer more than 550 airport lounges for premium customers.

・Carry 340 million passengers a year.

・Operate a combined fleet of almost 2,500 aircraft.

・Generate around US$90 billion annual revenues in total.

 

oneworld enables its members to offer their customers more services and benefits than any airline can provide on its own.  These include a broader route network, opportunities to earn and redeem frequent flyer miles and points across the combined oneworld network and more airport lounges.   oneworld also offers more alliance fares than any of its competitors. 

 

oneworld was named the World’s Best Alliance in the 2010 World Airline Awards and has been voted the World's Leading Airline Alliance for the past seven years in the World Travel Awards.   It is the only winner of this award since it was introduced in 2003.