US and Japanese officials have agreed to meet again next month about further deregulating commercial travel between the two countries, with the US aiming for a tentative "open skies" treaty by year-end, according to Dow Jones Newswires.
One factor driving the talks is a push by Japan's All Nippon Airways to win approval of US anti-trust regulators.
Negotiators from the two countries concluded a round of talks at the weekend aimed at updating a 1952 agreement that liberalised air travel over the Pacific Ocean. The talks are focusing in part on traffic at Tokyo's two major airports, Narita and Haneda.
But serving as a backdrop is All Nippon's desire to fully operate within the Star Alliance of air carriers, negotiators said.
Yoshiro Funabiki, counselor of transportation at the Japanese embassy in Washington, said Japan is serious about reaching an "open skies" agreement but that the country remains concerned about US dominance in the transpacific market. Those concerns are rising as Narita prepares to expand the number of flights there next year.
"The US has too much dominance in market share across the Pacific ocean, and too much dominance especially in Narita," he said.
US carriers currently operate a quarter of the flights coming in and out of Narita, he said.
Under the current treaty between the US and Japan, carriers that can fly between Narita and US cities are Delta Air Lines, United Air Lines, and FedEx in the US and Japan's two biggest airlines, Japan Airlines and All Nippon.
He said the two sides this week "made progress in developing the outlines of a new agreement text," but added "there's still a good bit of work to do."
The two sides will hold another round of talks in Tokyo starting October 26.
Cargonews Asia
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