Alex McWhirter examines topical business travel issues
Wish you had more options for flying to Tokyo? For the first time in many years, there are new ways of getting there. First off is Lufthansa – Germany’s national airline has become the first European carrier to serve Tokyo with the A380. The superjumbo started a three-times-weekly service (Tuesday, Friday and Sunday, returning the following day) from Frankfurt in June, which will rise to a daily frequency in August.
Close behind is Air France, which will launch a thrice-weekly A380 service from Paris Charles de Gaulle on September 1, increasing to daily from October 5.
A glance at the timings reveals good connection possibilities throughout both carriers’ networks. Use of the A380 provides both carriers with a priceless advantage over their rivals. Granted, our British Airways and Virgin Atlantic offer better business class seating (both Lufthansa and Air France have angled lie-flat seating) but no other carrier serving Tokyo from Europe offers the kudos of flying the A380 with its spacious, quiet cabin.
However, one could argue that a more significant development for business people is the reopening of Tokyo’s Haneda airport to a limited number of long-haul flights from the end of October. Until Narita was built, all international flights used Haneda. But when the former opened in 1978, the Japanese government moved international air service to Narita, with Haneda becoming the city’s main domestic facility.
That decision meant travellers had to spend time and money getting to and from downtown Tokyo, as Narita is about 70km away compared with Haneda at about 20km. Passengers arriving into Narita face at least an hour’s train ride to the centre, a two-hour bus trip or a taxi costing an arm and a leg. In contrast, Haneda airport is linked by monorail with a transit time of 20 minutes, has convenient buses and trains, and more reasonably priced cabs.
Japan Airlines (JAL) is the first carrier to announce flights between Haneda and Europe. Although schedules are not yet available, JAL has said it will launch a service into Paris CDG from October 31. In addition to the Paris service, the Japanese aviation body will also allow a limited number of Haneda flights from Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.
This is great news. But although the big European carriers say they are all keen to serve Haneda, none have announced concrete plans. Why is that? Onerous rules have been applied to prevent carriers defecting en masse from Narita, so long-haul flights can use Haneda only between 11pm and 6am (there is no night curfew).
That may not present much of an issue for carriers based in the US or South East Asia, but in the case of Europe, a Haneda departure at midnight would run up against curfews in the likes of Amsterdam, Frankfurt or London. And as the UK is one hour behind those European cities, Heathrow is further disadvantaged. Circumventing the curfew would mean airlines having to schedule their departures from Haneda between 0300 and 0500 – and who wants to board a 13-hour flight at such an unsocial time?
The reason why Paris CDG is the first European route to be announced is because it has no strict curfew like the other airports mentioned. The timings work for JAL because Air France already operates a late-night departure from Narita, which reaches CDG in the early hours so connects perfectly for early-morning services throughout Europe. All flights between Narita and CDG are codeshared by Air France and JAL, and this arrangement may continue with the new JAL service from Haneda.
It must be stressed that although Haneda is Tokyo’s second airport, it doesn’t make obvious its merits. Handling almost as many passengers as Heathrow, it can lay claim to being one of the world’s busiest airports, and later this year it will open a third terminal and fourth runway. It is open for business 24 hours.
Other carriers that have announced they will, or would like to, serve Haneda include Singapore Airlines (from the city-state), Cathay Pacific (from Hong Kong), Delta Air Lines (Los Angeles and Detroit) and American Airlines (New York JFK). Japan’s ANA says it wants to serve Europe and the US, while JAL says it also plans to operate to Bangkok and San Francisco, as well as increase services to Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong.
