Japan Travel Trade Weekly News
Keeping you abreast of what's going on in the
Japanese travel and tourism industries.
News consolidated by Travel Vision, Inc. updated every week.
JAL Starts Haneda/ Hong Kong Scheduled Charter Service, Expecting 30%
Increase in Charter Operations 2008
End-April 2008
Japan Airlines is scheduled to launch daily charter flights
between Tokyo Haneda and Hong Kong starting from July this year.
Aircraft to be put into service is the Boeing B767 with seating
capacity of approximately 230. The airline is presently finalizing
its charter flight plan including the sales period. The official
announcement by the airline will follow within a week or so.
ANA has meanwhile been operating its scheduled charter flights
between the same cities, Tokyo and Hong Kong since April 1 this year.
During the high-season, Cathay Pacific Airways (CX) also serves the
same route by charter flights with an eye on a future
internationalization of Tokyo Haneda Airport.
According to ANA, the passenger load from Hong Kong shows a
robust demand with an average seat load factor exceeding 80%. In
terms of sales origin, approximately 80% of the total boarding
passengers are originating from Hong Kong. By a simple calculation,
it can be noted that 64% of the total seat capacity is sold locally
in Hong Kong, while the remaining 16% is sold here in Japan. The
outbound traffic from Japan shows a vibrant growth of leisure
traffic. "Should the market demand it, we will consider introducing
larger aircraft," said ANA public relations office, referring to the
Hong Kong route.
Commenting on the competition with its rival carrier ANA, JAL
said, "There exist sample traffic potential," and further explained,
"We will not compete for the traffic share of 80% or more which ANA
registers.
ANA observes, " enhances
customer convenience and attracts the entire market demand. We may
only encounter a slight competition with our rival airline, yet we
must always improve our products in efforts to stay competitive in
the market."
JAL also aims to attract demand originating both from the Japan
and Hong Kong markets. From Japan, the airline anticipates to boost
business and leisure traffic demand.
Regarding the charter flight operations during FY2008, JAL plans
to increase the number of its charter flights by 30% to more than
1200 (600 roundtrips) compared to the previous fiscal year. This
prospective number does not include those charter flights planned
during the day at Haneda Airport.
JAL had originally targeted 800 charter flights for FY2007, but
eventually the total number rose to 930, driven by a robust growth
during the last three months, January to March.
For FY2008, the airline already started a series of charter
flights to Seoul Incheon from April 5 taking the advantage of the
late evening and early morning slots available at Haneda, which shows
a steady growth. Referring to the late evening and early morning
departure and arrival slots, JAL takes a proactive stance, citing,
"In addition to Hong Kong and Seoul, we strive for new charter
destinations, whenever possible, according to market demand."
Northwest Airlines Completes Renovation of Narita Airport Lounge,
Stressing Its Interests of Japan Market
End-April 2008
Northwest Airlines (NWA) has completed renovation of its airport
lounge "WorldClubs" on the 4th floor of Satellite 2 at Terminal 1 of
Narita International Airport and reopened for service on April 22.
The total floor space is 1,544 square meters, ranking as the
world's second largest airport lounge of its own after Detroit. The
WorldClub lounge with a grand total floor space of 2,475 square
meters, including a lounge opened in April last year at Satellite 1
of Terminal 1, cost the airline as much as USD5 billion or
approximately JPY517 million. Satellite 2 provides customers the same
service and facilities as Satellite 1.
Jeffrey S. Bernier, Managing Director Japan of Northwest
Airlines, stressed, "The opening of the renovated airport lounge at
Narita does reflect our strong commitment to Narita Airport and we
shall continuously make needed investments." The renewal of the
airline's check-in counters was also revealed.
Kentaro Toda, the airline's Analyst for Business Promotion,
Pacific Region, mentioned, "During the last two years, 13 lounges
were either newly opened or renovated" as part of the relocation plan
of airlines serving Narita Airport. He further explained, "To meet a
growing expectation of customers, airlines find it imperative to
provide a lounge which is similar to a 4 or 5star hotel with
atmosphere and service."
The WorldClub lounge opened for service at Satellite 1 last year,
offering upgraded food service and Apple computers supporting 12
languages, is highly praised by the customers. This renovated
WorldClub lounge at Satellite 2 with more frequent departures and
arrivals provides the customers the same service as Satellite 1 and
caters to customers needs. Consequently, at newly renovated Satellite
2, food service is also upgraded to include soup, Sushi, and hot
sandwiches. Also available, as at Satellite 1, are 32 Apple
computers, shower rooms and a play room.
18% of the passengers departing from Satellite 2 have actually
used the Satellite 1 lounge. The reopened lounge at Satellite 2 will
accommodate those departing passengers, thus it should improve
on-time performance from Satellite 1. Northwest Airlines hopes that
the reopening of the lounge will attract more business traffic and
boost corporate sales.
Being asked to comment on its future market after the merger with
Delta Air Lines, Jeffrey S. Bernier, Managing Director Japan, merely
said, "There is nothing definite yet." He underlined, however, "We
will definitely keep Narita Airport as one of our global hubs,
attaching increased weight to the airport, judging from the fact that
"Delta has chosen a merger deal with Northwest because Delta places
importance on the Pacific route including Japan."
The merger proposal is subject to approval by the US department
concerned, which is expected to take "from 6 to 8 months", added
Bernier of Northwest.
United Airlines Introduces "All Inclusive Fares" to Limited Asian
Destinations
End-April 2008
United Airlines Japan Office introduced "All Inclusive Fares"
from Narita to Bangkok, Singapore and Seoul in Asia, which include
fares, taxes, fuel surcharge and passenger facility charges. The
fares are available for a limited time until September 30, 2008
except certain blackout periods. The sale with a booking class "T"
commenced from April 9.
According to United Japan Office, the introduction of the fares
is "on a trial basis during April," and it will consider further
expansion while testing the water. "The same concept will not be
expanded to all routes, certainly not on the routes to the U.S. It
will be offered under certain conditions, available for a limited
time, on Asian routes," it stressed.
On the discussions led by JATA (Japan Association of Travel
Agents) about a proposal to simplify fare structure by combining
fares and fuel surcharge, United acknowledges by saying, "We have
heard of it," and stated that its position is irrelevant based on its
own pricing and marketing strategy in an effort to capture
last-minute bookings through "easy-to-understand fares".
Competition is ever-increasing as different level of fuel
surcharge is being applied. Cathay Pacific, as an example, is
appealing aggressively to consumers stating that "Our fuel surcharge
is set lower than the competition." United's "All Inclusive Fares",
although only available at United Japan website, are
consumer-friendly by showing "all inclusive" fares from Narita being
"\29,000" to Seoul and "\59,000" to Bangkok or Singapore respectively.
Foreign carriers in Japan are getting more consumer-conscious
than ever before thereby appealing "understandability" in fare
structure and "merits in price difference."
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