Slots for international routes at Haneda will increase from March 2020 with the creation of new flight routes at the airport. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) has entered the stage of final coordination of the allocation of the new slots with a vision of allocating 13.5 flights a day to All Nippon Airways (ANA) and 11.5 to Japan Airlines (JAL). In recent years, ANA has been prioritized in the allocation of slots because the public support extended to JAL was considered to have distorted the competitive environment. This time, however, [carriers’] transport performance will be reflected in the allocation of slots. International routes that use Haneda constitute a major plus for airline companies, and it looks like ANA will continue to be at an advantage, including existing slots.

[In March 2020] slots for international routes at Haneda will increase by 39,000 a year, from the current 60,000. This translates into about 50 additional flights a day from the current 80 (where one departure and one arrival constitute one flight).

To evenly allocate the slots to Japanese and foreign airline companies, a total of 25 slots will be allocated to the two Japanese companies. It is said that each Haneda slot means a revenue increase of several billion yen for ANA and JAL. (Slightly abridged)