Originally Posted by
ashill
All this talk of NRT vs HND is moot. As noted upthread, ASHA is starting the SEA-Asia service they can start on short notice in 2025 with the assets they have. They do not have an HND slot they’re allowed to use for SEA, and if they were allowed to use their slot for HND its time isn’t viable for mainland service anyway. That’s not to say they won’t bid the next time they have a chance (and I expect as a new entrant to mainland to Asia service, they’d have a strong case in any future rounds), but NRT and ICN are major cities with decent demand (given existing competition), decent synergies with partners for connecting flow in both places, and existing HA stations. That’s the low hanging fruit to start up quickly. That doesn’t mean it’s the extent of the mid-term (2026) strategy.
The obvious solution is JL switching to SEA-HND from NRT because it would have better connectivity into JL's network (though NRT isn't bereft of it), and presumably JL has more ways to get a plane into an HND slot, but your point is well taken.
I wonder if slot availability means AS might actually try and serve SEA-LGW befoe they lay hands on an LHR slot...