Qantas free to choose Haneda route after Virgin Australia granted slot

Regulator’s draft decision supports Brisbane-Tokoyo Haneda launch.

October 25th 2019

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Virgin Australia will enter Japan after a draft ruling from Australia’s International Air Services Commission (IASC) that said Virgin and Qantas would have one slot each at Tokyo Haneda. Read More »

Virgin will use its slot for a flight from Brisbane and to facilitate its new partnership with All Nippon Airways (ANA) that initially will be a code-share. The IASC heavily favoured Virgin’s request for one slot since it would see a new airline enter the Australia-Japan market and a new city - Brisbane - linked to Haneda.

Qantas argued Virgin did not need a Haneda slot to launch Japan flying since Narita is not access restricted. But the IASC agreed with Virgin that Haneda’s close proximity to Tokyo, and it being an ANA hub, made Virgin’s prospective entry into Japan “more commercially viable than from Narita”. IASC added it was unlikely Virgin Australia would enter the Australia-Japan route via Narita if its application for one frequency to Haneda was unsuccessful.

Qantas opposed Virgin’s application and requested two slots, one for an additional Sydney flight and one for Qantas to move its existing Melbourne-Narita flight to Haneda.

IASC proposed one Haneda slot to Qantas without stipulating how Qantas should utilise it. Using the slot for a second Sydney flight would generate market growth, but using the slot to switch the Melbourne flight from Narita to Haneda would generate no market growth.

The Virgin/ANA code-share was simultaneously approved, but the IASC attached a condition to its draft decision that requires the two carriers to seek approval if they want to code-share on any overlapping city pairs. So far, they have not been in such a position. Virgin will fly from Brisbane while ANA serves Sydney and Perth. ANA received one Haneda slot for Australian services and has not stated how it will be used. The IASC said it had not received any information about ANA’s plans.