Japan and the United States yesterday agreed to expand their bilateral air services agreement,opening up Japanese airports to more cargo flights from the US and better connections with the rest
of Asia.The Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the US Department of Stateand Transportation reached the deal – the first change to the bilateral air agreement in a decade –after years of patient negotiation.
Japan has come under increasing pressure from the US to work towards an open skies agreement,allowing carriers from either country to fly to any point in the other without capacityrestrictions. Negotiations to liberalise flights further between the countries are scheduled for asearly as next year.
The first express carrier to react to the news was UPS, which said the agreement would allowit to expand its air operations to and from Japan.
UPS announced that it would be adding six daily flights between the US and Nagoya on top ofits current daily services to Tokyo and Osaka. The carrier also said it would now be able toconnect its flights to Japan to its new air hub in Shanghai, China, improving service to customersthroughout the Asia Pacific region.
“With the world’s second largest gross domestic product, Japan is a tremendous opportunityfor UPS’s customers worldwide,” said Alan Gershenhorn, president of UPS International. “The newaccess that comes with this landmark agreement will allow UPS to better serve customers in Japanand around the world and gain an even stronger foothold in the region.”
Ken Torok, president of UPS Asia Pacific, added: “With the establishment of our hub inShanghai and its formal opening next year, the opening of air lanes between Nagoya and Shanghaiwill improve our services to customers throughout Asia, especially China and Japan.”
Polar Air Cargo was another freight airline reported to be expanding flights as a result ofthe agreement, with new services to and from Osaka, according to the Financial Times.
The new Japan-US agreement also allows for some expansion for the passenger airline allianceswhich now dominate the industry.
Earlier this year, the US and China signed an agreement to lift restrictions on air cargoflights by 2011, opening the way for UPS, FedEx and other cargo carriers to increase flightsbetween the two countries and increase their shares of the Chinese express market.
