The current allocation of domestic slots at Tokyo Haneda Airport is set to expire in January 2025. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) has, however, decided to postpone the reallocation process to 2028 and keep the current allocation intact until FY2028 (ending March 31, 2029).
The decision was revealed at the ministry’s “Haneda Slot Allocation Criteria Review Subcommittee’s” fourth and last meeting held on June 26, 2024. According to the subcommittee, the COVID-19 pandemic made it impossible to conduct the current slot allocation performance analyses necessary to decide on the new allocation.
Separately, the routes currently operated under the “policy contest slots” system, which reserves a set number of slots for routes to regional airports that would not be sustainable without government support, will remain unchanged until March 29, 2025. Until then, the ministry will hold discussions to determine potential changes to the routes.
Currently, ANA’s routes to Tottori, Hagi-Iwami, and Odate-Noshiro, JAL’s to Yamagata and Misawa, and Skymark’s to Shimojishima operate under the “policy contest slots” system.
The subcommittee also put in spotlight four of the six airlines currently operating domestic flights out of Haneda Airport, saying that ANA’s codesharing agreement with Air Do, Solaseed Air, and StarFlyer, as well as the shared ownership of Air Do and Solaseed Air will need to be monitored for potential effects on fair competition. The two other domestic airlines serving the airport are JAL and Skymark Airlines.