The US and Japan are in agreement to expand their air services accord for the first time in a decade, in a bid to provide greater access for cargo and passenger flights and connecting services to other parts of Asia.
The amended agreement presents additional opportunities for cargo carriers in the transpacific market, as well as limited expansion for passenger airline alliances, reports the Financial Times.
UPS will be allowed to add six daily flights to Nagoya to its existing daily services to Tokyo and Osaka, and connect these to its regional hub in Shanghai. Polar Air Cargo has been granted the rights to commence services to Osaka.
"With the establishment of our hub in Shanghai and its formal opening next year, the opening of air lanes between Nagoya and Shanghai will improve our services to customers throughout Asia, especially China and Japan," said UPS Asia Pacific president Ken Torok in a British Transport Intelligence report.
More talks aimed at further liberalisation of the route are expected to take place before next summer, according to the US Transportation Department as Japan faces stiffer world pressure to establish an "open skies" policy amid greater competition from airports in China and South Korea.
But the Japanese transport ministry said the US should not expect more access to Tokyo's Haneda airport until at least 2010 when a new runway is completed, the Financial Times said.
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