Qantas shifting Melbourne-Tokyo flights to Haneda Airport
Qantas will launch the first flights connecting Melbourne with Tokyo’s Haneda Airport next year.
However it is not adding capacity, but just simply shifting a daily flight from Tokyo’s other airport Narita.
The change takes effect on March 29, 2020.
It will continue to fly Airbus A330-300 aircraft on the route
The move to the more convenient Haneda Airport will save about one hour in travel time to the city.
The shift is made possible after both Qantas and Virgin Australia were each awarded a daytime flight slot at Haneda.
Virgin has already announced the upcoming launch of flights to Tokyo Haneda from Brisbane.
Both routes kick off in time to meet demand for travel to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
"Our new Melbourne-Haneda flights gives our customers much easier access to Tokyo city centre and one of the world’s most important business markets. We expect the new Haneda service to be particularly popular with business travelers," said Tino La Spina, Qantas International CEO.
Qantas also operates a daily flight out of Sydney to Tokyo Haneda.
Its budget subsidiary Jetstar also serves Tokyo Narita from Cairns and Gold Coast.
Tokyo Narita has seen a steady fall in flight capacity with the latest allocation of flight slots at Tokyo Haneda.
Several US carriers awarded new Haneda slots have shifted flights out of Narita rather than add extra capacity.
Narita’s airport management recently said it would waive landing fees for three years for all new long haul routes in a bid to secure new business.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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