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Japan cleared the way for foreign airlines to fly directly to its regional airports in a radical step towards liberalising its air travel market.
The move offers a potential boon to low-cost airlines and is part of efforts to create more links with other Asian countries. It could make it easier for discount Asian carriers to operate in Japan where tight restrictions on routes, along with high costs, have acted as barriers to entry.
A previous bilateral liberalisation deal with South Korea, which covered airports outside Tokyo's main international hub at Narita, prompted South Korea's Asiana Airlines to add several routes to Japan.
Any foreign carrier will now be able to fly into the 23 Japanese regional airports capable of handling international flights, without first negotiating for landing rights through their governments.
The airports include several in cities with more than a million people, including Sapporo in the north and Fukuoka in the south.
The latest change should reduce the time it takes a foreign airline to win approval to fly into a regional airport from a year or more to three or four months.
The move will complement a larger liberalisation being undertaken by the ten-member Association of South East Asian Nations.
CargonewsAsia
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