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Northwest Plans More Flights At Tokyo Narita

Northwest Airlines plans to increase the number of services it operates in and out of Japan as a new runway is expected to be built at Tokyo's Narita Airport next year, according to chief executive Richard Anderson.

"We have always availed ourselves of opportunities to (receive) additional slots at Narita Airport," said Anderson.

Northwest operates its Asian hub at Narita, but working out of Tokyo's international airport is expensive, Anderson said, adding that he hoped to cooperate with local authorities to make the operation more efficient.

At the moment Northwest pays roughly USD$60 million a year to the Narita Airport Authority for the privilege of 18 daily flights, he said.



http://news.airwise.com/stories/2001/07/994763614.html

Cris L

OK I am dying of curiousity.... where would these be to ?

DJMeatBall

I wonder why they don't try to send more flights through their other Japan "hub", Osaka. Seems to me that connections would be easier there and operations would be cheaper. Does Osaka have more than one runway, as well?

Chiangi

I don't have exact landing fee data with me but I think KIX (Kansai International-Osaka) is as expensive as NRT. I would assume it's due to the exorbitant building cost. It's on an artifically created offshore platform, which is literally sinking and the government may have to sink a huge amount of money to keep it afloat.

It has only one runway.

Domestic carriers are also reducing flights to and from this airport, which was supposed to be an international gateway for many local airports, which are not given any slots at all at NRT. Only a few domestic flights now fly into NRT.

SeoulGold

The new Seoul airport at Incheon is supposed to be a lot cheaper than any of the Japanese airports. At one time, Northwest used Seoul Kimpo as a mini-hub (direct flights to several US destimations, plus Tokyo and Guam. Now we have one flight a day to Narita.

SpuddBrother

Guess where the 757-300s are going to end up! NRT!

wabash

NRT-KUL would be nice, even at 6+ hours in the air.

I would also think NW is looking at a lot of destinations in China.

lonman

did you see those number in the piece? narita gets $60 Million a year for 18 flights a day, versus MSP, which gets only $35 million for 500-600 flights a day. and the NW terminal at NRT looks straight out of the 50's. what a rip!!

Phire

Not sure if anyone has visited NRT lately, but the new construction at Satellite 3 in Terminal 1 will become the new NW satellite. It will have more gates since it will not be a typical circular building, but will instead be a rectangular extension. I heard that this will give NW more gates than any other airlines, which would make sense with the news of the new flights.

wabash

I had heard a few years ago that it cost Northwest about $10,000 per landing at NRT. The $60 million number confirms that.

Chiangi

A bit old data but just for reference, how expensive Japanese airports are.

From a July 1999 report of the Foreign Airlines Association in Japan (NW, the biggest foreign carrier in Japan, is part of is but UA, the second largest, is not.)

Landing charges of B747-400 (Max TOW=395T)

1USD=120JPY is used for currency conversion (now its' around 125JPY)

In USD
NRT (Narita, Tokyo): 7,900
KIX (Kansai, Osaka): 7,571
NHD (Haneda, Tokyo): 7,900

LHR: 559
LAX: 1,096
HKG: 3,916
SIN: 2,459
BKK: 1,417
FRA: 1,575

If baggage facility and other charges are included, KIX is the most expensive with 8,738, followed by NRT with 8,367.

F U K (F u k u o k a, Japan) and NGO (Nagoya, Japan) come after NRT, KIX and HND and outrank other key airports voerseas.

wabash

Chiangi,

Is there any info in that report on landing fees for a 757 or comparable weight or pax sized plane?

Chiangi

wabash, sorry, that was all the info I got. The association gave that data maybe because 747 is the typical aircraft at NRT ....