Originally Posted by
joejones
The retirement of domestic 747s has more to do with the opening of extra slots at domestic hubs (construction of KIX, expansion of KIX/HND/NRT) as well as upgrades to the shinkansen (bullet trains) which are making them more competitive.
Even though ITM has banned 4-engine aircraft, the major international hubs in Japan (NRT, HND, KIX, NGO) don't have the same noise problems that ITM has. I doubt NH really wants to use the 380 domestically, since demand is going nowhere but down in Japan and the trains keep getting more competitive. Hakodate, Sapporo and Kagoshima should all be tied to the national shinkansen network within the next ten years or so, and the new maglev between Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka will make planes even less competitive in the busiest domestic corridor.
I beg to differ: SHA, HKG, PEK and SEL. They are all in that range, and the Chinese routes will probably get even busier once JAL is downsized and Japanese visa restrictions are further eased for Chinese nationals. The Japanese government is making huge efforts right now to get more Chinese tourists (and capital) into Japan.
Top domestic routes in terms of flights are Haneda-Sapporo and Haneda-Fukuoka, numbers 6 and 8 in the world! Itami is not in the top 20! The shinkansen does not compete on these 2 routes.....it is still 4++ hours from Hakata to Tokyo on the fastest Nozomi. Not great for business people!
NH are just using this as a ploy to get better terms from Boeing.....and JL won't be making any orders any time soon!