Qantas delays restart of flights to Tokyo

It isn't really. It depends on where in Tokyo you are going and which type of transport you use to get to/from the airports.

It is possible to get to the NW parts of the Tokyo 23 special wards faster from Narita then from Haneda.

Well obviously it depends on exactly where in Tokyo you are heading, that would be like saying London Heathrow is closer to much of London than London City. It's 100% true but if you're going to be in the heart of London, that inner London area, LCY generally beats LHR. I think that the majority of business travellers would be headed for the 'central' core of Tokyo compared to the north-west, which is closer to NRT.

Haneda Airport is about 20km south of Tokyo City while Narita Airport is about 70km east of Tokyo city. How is Narita Airport "closer" to Tokyo's NW?

There are a number of transport options from both airports into Tokyo. Depending on which option you select and where in Tokyo's 23 special wards you are going to, there are areas of Tokyo where it is faster to travel to from Narita then Haneda.

For example, you can get the Keisei SkyLiner express train from Narita and get to areas in the NW of the city (eg Ueno, Akihabara, Arakawa) in around 40 mins. It takes an hour to get to the same places from Haneda.

Travel to areas in the NE (such as Ikebukuro and Shinjuku) takes an hour from *either* airport.

Narita has a direct train to Tokyo Station (JR Narita Express), Haneda doesn't.

Travel to areas in the South/South East (Shinagawa, Shibuya, Yokohama) are faster from Haneda.

Just before the travel shutdown, there were 71 flights/week between Australia and Japan across 4 airlines, with a net increase of 14 flights and a 5th airline due to start.

Qantas had wanted both HND day slots in order to shift MEL to HND and start a 2nd SYD-HND flight.

Right now, there are 10 flights/week, all cargo. (I wish Japan Post would start shipping to Australia again.)

How long did it take Japan demand to recover after flights were downsided by the 2011 earthquake?

Is the CX lounge at HND T3 still open?

CX lounge at Haneda is still closed, as mentioned in the article. I really like this lounge, it has more of a vibe than the colder emptier JAL Sakura (business class) Lounge. It's also quieter as it has fewer passengers and the interior design doesn't echo as much, not that Japanese travellers are rowdy!

And yes, two HND slots were offered to AU airlines Qantas wanted both, ideally to add that second Sydney flight to allow for when the 747 was retired, but Virgin also puts its hand up and was awarded a slot for BNE-HND. I can't see them keeping that one, they should be given a "use it or lose it" deadline.

I wonder how much money QF makes out of the NRT lounge from the non oneworld airlines that contract its use.

That's a good question, and more to the point, is it enough for Qantas to keep the lounge open? I do wonder if they might decide it's just not worth it and pull down the shutters and redirect airlines to a Plaza Premium or other pay-in lounge.

I don’t understand this. ANA has only staggered flat beds on both the 788s and 789s it uses between SYD and HND. The 2-2-2 config with recliners is only found on the 787s it uses domestically and maybe to some PRC, Korea, and Taiwan routes, but I’d have to check on that. I travel that route frequently (and recently) and I’ve never been on any config other than the staggered 1-2-1 lie flat, though it’s always been the original product before the color changes and various tweaks. It would be great, though, if ANA would put The Room on its 78s and not just keep it for the 77W (ugh).

Japan was getting ready to reopen to Australia and Singapore before Omicron arrived. The new variant changed things. Japan just got hit with the Omicron wave in the past 10 days or so with a number of prefectures going back into the limited style of lockdown Japanese law permits.

Japan had reopened to Business travel in early November with limited quarantine requirements pending test results, then closed it all again at the end of November.

It is currently planned to start opening again at the end of Feb.

also you can transit via Haneda to Europe on JAL.

Yes, it does of course depend on where in Tokyo you're headed. Qantas has rostered an A330 on all three Haneda routes, so I've updated the article with that. Gosh, makes me reflect that back in pre-Covid days when the Boeing 747 was doing Sydney-Haneda but the jumbo's days were numbered, Qantas faced the quandary of matching the 747's capacity on this route and one option floated was an A380. How much has changed... 

Hopefully those times return in the not too distant future David.

As mentioned when the idea was floated, the issue with an A380 is that HND will only allow 1 there at a time and only during the night slot period. If QF were to start flying an A380 to HND, they would have to change their flight times as they wouldn't have been allowed to keep it parked there all day like they've done with the 747.

Yes, the timing was an issue, Alan Joyce directly references it in this old ET/AusBT article I found through a search: https://www.executivetraveller.com/news/qantas-eyes-airbus-a380-upgrade-for-sydney-tokyo

“We’d like to go to an A380 (on Sydney-Tokyo), and use the aircraft there,” Joyce remarked on the sidelines of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Annual General Meeting in Seoul, but the aircraft serving the Sydney-Tokyo route “stays in Tokyo the whole day and then leaves at night, which means no other A380s can be on the ground when it’s there” under the airport’s current policy. "We need that (policy) changed, and we’re working to figure out how we’d do that."

Thanks for the update David. Pleased to hear the 747 has retired as it wasn't the most comfortable overnight flight.

Hi…great website; I’ve used it often!! We just used our QFF to book Business Class Mel-Lon return on Emirates out (paying with points, as no rewards available), back on a JAL Classic Reward.  The return flight is Nov 9 and transit (we have 4 hrs) is from Haneda to Narita. I’m hoping that surely by then, transit will be allowed through Japan, but if it wasn’t at that time, what happens? Does Qantas find us another flight? Or is it up to us? Thanks, Sam

HND International security has always had a priority lane, but it has been limited to airlines and flight class on said airlines as determined by the terminal operators. They have normally had a list of permitted airlines at the start of the security queue.

To date, QF hasn't been a permitted airline and QF status when flying on JL hasn't gotten you access (even though the same oneworld status via JL would).

Yes, prior to Narita opening in May 1978, everyone used Haneda when flying to Tokyo. They build NRT because of capacity at HND and the increasing noise issues from jets. Once NRT opened, all international flights (with some exceptions for Taiwan) were moved from HND.

They started international flights again in the late 90s with "scheduled charters" allowed to international ports within the same distance as the longest domestic flight (basically Korea and parts of China). Expansions of the airport onto reclaimed land in the bay and a new terminal allowed long haul flights to resume in 2010 with night time arrivals/departures (when NRT is closed and there isn't many domestic flights). Other extensions and airspace changes throughout the 2010s allowed more long haul flights, this time with day time slots.

"Also, it will be interesting as to how they deal with the extra slot situation now that VA is unlikely to commence Brisbane to Tokyo flights. QF could be granted the additional slot, but seeing as both JAL and NH would only have one daily slot."

JAL and ANA also got an extra Haneda slot handed to them in the 2019 allocation, the agreement was four slots for AU-HND, two for Japanese airlines and two for Australian airlines. If I remember correctly, ANA decided to use its extra slot to launch a second daily SYD-HND flight while JAL used it to change SYD-NRT to SYD-HND.

When HND reopened to long haul international flights, there was a requirement that any airlines getting new HND slots had to maintain service to NRT, which is why QF started MEL-NRT the moment they started SYD-HND.

It would seem that requirement is now dead. A number of European carriers had been pushing back on it.

Each time HND slots are assigned, the JP MLIT assigns them to given nations on a 50:50 basis. The 2019 slot allocation included 4 day slots for Australia, 2 for Japanese carriers to fly from HND to AU and 2 for Australian carriers to fly from AU to HND.

The current HND slots for Australia are 2 night slots (used by QF and NH for SYD-HND) and 4 day slots (QF BNE/MEL-HND, NH SYD-HND, JL MEL-HND and one assigned to VA which they can't use with their current fleet)

Not sure I understand your comment, what does the Qantas A380 have to do with Tokyo apart from the fact that QF once said in pre-COVID days the A380 might even be considered to replace the 747 on Sydney-Tokyo flights? That's sure not going to happen now, the ten A380s coming back will only be for the USA and London.

"This will be more for Australia - USA traffic." Also don't understand this, nobody will be flying Qantas to Tokyo to connect to JAL for the USA.

This newest delay has everything to do with the Japanese Government. Qantas has little reason to resume passenger flights to Japan while the Japanese Government continues to ban tourists from entering.

Currently, the only people permitted to enter Japan are citizens, permanent residents, families of such with the needed Spouse/Child visa, and holders of work, student or business visas. There is also a cap of 10,000 entries per day and a complex system of isolation requirements depending on vaccination status, test results (pre departure and arrival tests) and departure country.

I don't see Qantas, or most non Japanese carriers, resuming/increasing regular flights to Japan until such time as Japan allows tourists again.

Japan Post suspended mail to Australia in 2020 and has yet to resume it, even though Australia Post has been able to send to Japan through the pandemic and Qantas Group has had up to 3 weekly cargo only flights to Japan throughout. All my packages from Japan have had to go via Hong Kong and/or Singapore via DHL.