An advisory panel to the Transport Ministry compiled a report Monday recommending that additional slots for three daily flights each be allocated to Skymark Airlines and Hokkaido International Airlines (Air Do) at Haneda airport in July. The airport in Tokyo's Ota Ward will be able to handle 57 additional daily flights (114 departure and arrival slots) beginning in July after a new crosswind runway opens on March 23. Each year, Haneda handles about 320 daily flights and about 50 million people, or 56.8 percent of the total domestic flight passengers in Japan. Japan's three major airlines -- Japan Airlines, All Nippon Airways and Japan Air System -- combined will be allocated additional slots for 40 flights daily. The panel said that in order to promote fair competition in the domestic flight market, priority over the distribution should be given to fledgling airlines like Skymark and Air Do so they can handle six daily flights each at the airport. Skymark and Air Do, which started domestic services in 1998, each run three daily flights. The report, submitted to the ministry's Civil Aviation Bureau, also states that 18 slots for nine flights at Haneda should be reserved for new airlines that may be created in the future. But existing airlines can use the slots until new airlines come in. In addition, four slots are also reserved for airlines that operate flights connecting Haneda with Shin-Monbetsu airport in Hokkaido and Noto airport in Ishikawa Prefecture. The measures are aimed at securing means of air transport on unprofitable rural routes. The remaining 80 slots for 40 flights will be divided among JAL, ANA and JAS. The three airlines will be rated under an 11-point measure to evaluate their business performance, including air fares, safety, local flight networks, and management efficiency. Highly rated airlines can receive a large number of flights, the panel said. The ministry plans to redistribute slots at the airport every five years, and the evaluation will be basically applied to those occasions.
