Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Miles&Points > Airlines and Mileage Programs > United Airlines | MileagePlus
Reload this Page >

UA applies for 6x additional HND slots - UA gets EWR, ORD, IAD, LAX

Community
Wiki Posts
Search
Old Feb 21, 2019, 1:00 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
[/QUOTE]
United Airlines Adds Service to Tokyo, Haneda with Routes from Chicago, Los Angeles, New York/Newark and Washington, D.C.

CHICAGO, Aug. 16, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- United Airlines today announced it will begin service between four of its U.S. hubs and Tokyo's Haneda International Airport, located approximately 15 minutes from downtown Tokyo. United will begin operating nonstop service between Chicago, Los Angeles, New York/Newark and Washington, D.C. and Haneda on March 28, 2020, subject to government approval. United currently offers daily nonstop service between San Francisco and Haneda. Tickets for United's new Haneda flights will be available for purchase starting Saturday, August 17.

In addition to United's new Haneda flights, Tokyo's Narita International airport will continue to be a hub for United with nonstop daily service between Narita and Denver, Guam, Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark and San Francisco. With the start of these new routes, United will no longer serve Narita from its Chicago and Washington D.C. hubs, and will shift these flights from Narita to Haneda.

"Our new service to Haneda gives our customers more choice and connections to more than 65 destinations throughout Asia. With service beginning next spring, we look forward to providing convenient service for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, and beyond," said Patrick Quayle, United's vice president of International Network. "United has offered nonstop service between the U.S. and Japan for more than 40 years and we are excited to expand our Japan network at Tokyo's Haneda Airport and continue to be the largest U.S. carrier to Japan."

United commends the efforts of Secretary Elaine Chao, her team at the U.S. Department of Transportation and officials at the U.S. State Department in making additional services at Tokyo Haneda a reality starting spring 2020.[/quote]





2019 HANEDA COMBINATION SERVICES
ALLOCATION PROCEEDING
DOCKET DOT-OST-2019-0014


U.S. Department of Transportation Tentatively Grants United Airlines Authority to Operate New Service to Tokyo Haneda
New slots from four hubs to Haneda Airport will expand United's best-in-class Japan route network to better meet demand from U.S. consumers and businesses
CHICAGO, May 16, 2019
-- The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) today announced that United Airlines was tentatively granted a total of four daily nonstop flights to Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND). The slots will be allocated for flights from United's hubs at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD), Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Pending completion of an aviation agreement between the U.S. and Japanese governments later this year, the flights are expected to begin service by the summer of 2020.

"As the largest U.S. carrier to Asia, we are excited to see we were granted additional slots to Haneda to help more Americans travel between our nation and Japan's capital city, which will offer our customers an unparalleled experience while maximizing choice," said United Airlines President Scott Kirby. "We would like to thank the U.S. Department of Transportation for its work in reviewing our proposal and advocating for what is best for the American public and for our economy. We also recognize the efforts of the U.S. State Department's work with the DOT to enable additional service at Haneda."

Together, the flights from these U.S. mainland hub cities will connect Tokyo Haneda with:
  • The U.S.'s largest metropolitan area and center of finance and commerce, Newark/New York;
  • The most important logistics and transportation hub in the Midwest, Chicago;
  • The seat of the U.S. federal government, Washington, D.C.; and
  • Additional U.S. carrier service in the largest U.S. mainland - Tokyo market at Los Angeles.
This announcement will strengthen United's broad-based and end-to-end network between the United States and Japan. United's proposed flights to Haneda would allow U.S. consumers to make connections to 37 points in Japan via United's joint venture partner All Nippon Airways (ANA), strengthening United's existing comprehensive network. Throughout this proceeding United has been the only U.S. airline to recognize the unique benefits that Tokyo Haneda and Tokyo Narita offer to the traveling public.


Only United has committed to providing service to both Tokyo airports from regions across the United States. United has proven its long-term commitment to Tokyo as a key gateway in Asia, serving Tokyo from all seven of its U.S. mainland hubs. United also serves 31 markets in the Asia/Pacific region, more than any other U.S. carrier, and has successfully launched 11 new nonstop flights from the U.S. mainland to destinations throughout the Asia/Pacific region since 2014.
United Applies to Serve Tokyo Haneda from Six Leading U.S. Hubs Where Demand Is Highest

Proposed daily nonstop flights from hubs at Newark Liberty, Chicago O'Hare, Washington Dulles, Los Angeles International, Houston George Bush and Guam will maximize choice and convenience for U.S. consumers and businesses

CHICAGO, Feb. 21, 2019
-- United Airlines announced today it has filed an application with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) for a total of six daily nonstop flights to Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND) from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD), Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD), Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) and Guam's A.B. Won Pat International Airport (GUM). Pending completion of an aviation agreement between the U.S. and Japanese governments later this year, and slots awarded by DOT, the flights are expected to begin service by the summer of 2020.

United has presented a proposal maximized to meet consumer demand and benefit U.S. travelers. Together, the flights from five U.S. mainland hub cities and Guam will connect Tokyo Haneda with 112 U.S. airports, representing approximately two thirds of U.S.-Tokyo demand, or more than three million annual Tokyo bookings. With United's proposed routes representing five of the six largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. mainland and a combined population of nearly 56 million, the new flights requested in this proceeding will provide consumers with more choices and more convenient options when selecting Tokyo Haneda for their travel plans.

"If awarded by the DOT, these new nonstop flights would expand United's best-in-class Japan route network to better meet demand from U.S. consumers and businesses," said United Airlines President Scott Kirby. "Tokyo is a hub of 21st century global commerce and innovation and one of the world's most popular tourist destinations. Today's filing demonstrates United's unparalleled commitment to helping more Americans travel between our nation and Japan's capital city. Our proposed flights to Tokyo Haneda will offer an unrivaled experience and maximize choice and convenience for our customers traveling between the United States and Tokyo for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and beyond."

United's proposed daily flights from Newark/New York, Los Angeles and Guam would supplement the airline's existing daily flights between those hubs and Tokyo's Narita International Airport (NRT), while United would shift existing daily nonstop Chicago, Washington D.C. and Houston flights from Tokyo Narita to Tokyo Haneda.United's application will also support American businesses and help grow the U.S. economy by offering direct flights from key business, government and cultural hubs where demand for flights to Haneda, the closest airport to central Tokyo, is the highest. With these new flights in place, United would provide Haneda service from:
  • The largest market for travel demand between the U.S. mainland and Tokyo (Los Angeles);
  • The two largest markets for travel demand between the East Coast and Tokyo (Newark/New York and Washington, D.C.);
  • The two largest markets for travel demand between the central U.S. and Tokyo (Chicago and Houston); and
  • Guam, a market with significant travel demand from a Japanese tourist base that is critical to the island's tourism industry, economy and job market.
United's proposal would help realize the full potential of these new routes for U.S. consumers and businesses by expanding United's broad-based and end-to-end network between the United States and Japan.

United's proposed flights to Haneda would allow U.S. consumers to make connections to 37 points in Japan via United's joint venture partner All Nippon Airways (ANA), strengthening United's existing comprehensive network when combined with nonstop or single-connection service from 112 U.S. airports.

United has proven its long-term commitment to Tokyo as a key gateway in Asia, serving Tokyo from 100 percent of its U.S. hubs. United also serves 31 markets in the Asia/Pacific region, more than any other U.S. carrier, and has successfully launched 11 new nonstop flights from the U.S. mainland to destinations throughout the Asia/Pacific region since 2014.United's application is in response to the U.S. DOT instituting a competitive route proceeding to allocate slot pairs, with today's application filed under DOT proceeding # DOT-OST-2019-0014. For more information about United's bid, please visit www.UnitedToHaneda.com.
Print Wikipost

UA applies for 6x additional HND slots - UA gets EWR, ORD, IAD, LAX

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old Feb 21, 2019, 11:32 am
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: NYC (Primarily EWR)
Programs: UA 1K / *G, Marriott Bonvoy Gold; Avis PC
Posts: 9,005
UA applies for 6x additional HND slots - UA gets EWR, ORD, IAD, LAX

Reading a press release on BBG at work - it looks like UA has applied to fly to HND from 6 existing hubs (EWR, IAD, ORD, IAH, LAX and GUM), along with its existing SFO-HND route. It would keep EWR-NRT, LAX-NRT, and GUM-NRT, while shifting service from NRT entirely from ORD, IAD, and IAH. It sounds like summer 2020 is the target if they get approval (in time for Summer Olympics?).

This seems like many more routes than they have applied for in the past, and if approved, it certainly spells the end of NRT as a hub (perhaps a PL gets built at HND?). Anyone have insight as to if this has a realistic shot of being approved?
PsiFighter37 is offline  
Old Feb 21, 2019, 11:35 am
  #2  
TBD
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: TPA
Programs: All The Programs
Posts: 2,204
HND is opening 12 slots up to US carriers in 2020 and I'm confident American and Delta (and maybe Hawaiian) will apply for them, too.

Edit: Corrected # of slots. it was 6 last time (2016) and 12 in 2020.

Last edited by TBD; Feb 21, 2019 at 7:23 pm
TBD is offline  
Old Feb 21, 2019, 11:44 am
  #3  
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: NYC
Programs: Marriott Platinum Elite, National Executive, United Gold
Posts: 1,181
I think how many slots UA will receive will rest on how many slots NH is allocated given the JV. Of the routes, I see the DOT most likely granting IAD-HND and EWR-HND (maybe IAH-HND).
764toHI is offline  
Old Feb 21, 2019, 11:44 am
  #4  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Honolulu Harbor
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 15,023
Originally Posted by TBD
HND is opening 6 slots up to US carriers in 2020 and I'm confident American and Delta (and maybe Hawaiian) will apply for them, too. If it's like the last round, United will get 1 or 2.
Isn’t a slot one take-off or landing? Getting one slot would mean parking overnight. Might 6 slots really mean 3 planes in/out? I’m not sure about Haneda, but overnight parking is scarce at most Japan airports.
IAH-OIL-TRASH is offline  
Old Feb 21, 2019, 11:46 am
  #5  
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: TYO / WAS / NYC
Programs: American Express got a hit man lookin' for me
Posts: 4,596
There are 12 slot pairs for US airlines, not 6. Thread on the Japan forum is here:

Get ready for more HND international routes

I think UA will get more than 2 pairs but less than 6. NH should get at least 6 pairs as a result of the allocation on the Japanese side. DOT seems to view the competitive landscape on a JV to JV basis and may want to give DL and AA relatively oversized pieces of the pie in order to counter the strength of the UA/NH JV.

NH will have to keep many of its flights, including US flights, at NRT due to constraints at HND, so that hub is not going away. UA would also presumably continue to operate DEN-NRT and HNL-NRT.
joejones is offline  
Old Feb 21, 2019, 12:00 pm
  #6  
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: IAH, YYC
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 753
Interesting that the proposed flights from EWR and LAX would be in addition to existing NRT services (ie. Net increase in capacity)

Hopefully UA will pick up a few of these slots. More choice is always better
david_oz is offline  
Old Feb 21, 2019, 12:03 pm
  #7  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Hyatt Contributor Badge
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Honolulu, Hawaiʻi [+MKK4 EBBER R577 EDSEL R577 ELKEY EXERT]
Posts: 15,826
Originally Posted by joejones
NH will have to keep many of its flights, including US flights, at NRT due to constraints at HND, so that hub is not going away. UA would also presumably continue to operate DEN-NRT and HNL-NRT.
With ANA throwing A380s on HNL-NRT, what’s the point for UA to compete?
slippahs is offline  
Old Feb 21, 2019, 12:37 pm
  #8  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Honolulu Harbor
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 15,023
Originally Posted by slippahs

With ANA throwing A380s on HNL-NRT, what’s the point for UA to compete?
I’ve been wondering for years how much longer UA was going to run HNL-Japan. I see the A380-equipped gate at the end of the Ewa concourse, but never have seen one there yet taxiiing by it on my regular HA flights between OGG and HNL. Going by it again in the a.m.
IAH-OIL-TRASH is offline  
Old Feb 21, 2019, 12:42 pm
  #9  
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Pacific Wonderland
Programs: ʙᴏɴᴠo̱ʏ Au, IHG Au, HH Dia, Nexus, Pilot FlyingJ Preferred
Posts: 5,336
Would EWR, LAX, DEN, GUM (& maybe HNL) be enough to keep the UC open at NRT?
rustykettel is offline  
Old Feb 21, 2019, 12:43 pm
  #10  
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Programs: UA MM
Posts: 4,125
Originally Posted by joejones
There are 12 slot pairs for US airlines, not 6. Thread on the Japan forum is here:

Get ready for more HND international routes

I think UA will get more than 2 pairs but less than 6. NH should get at least 6 pairs as a result of the allocation on the Japanese side. DOT seems to view the competitive landscape on a JV to JV basis and may want to give DL and AA relatively oversized pieces of the pie in order to counter the strength of the UA/NH JV.

NH will have to keep many of its flights, including US flights, at NRT due to constraints at HND, so that hub is not going away. UA would also presumably continue to operate DEN-NRT and HNL-NRT.
What's fundamentally different about the AA/JL relationship vs UA/NH?
JimInOhio is offline  
Old Feb 21, 2019, 12:56 pm
  #11  
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Washington DC
Programs: Delta DM CO PE OZ GE AMTRAK
Posts: 524
Originally Posted by rustykettel
Would EWR, LAX, DEN, GUM (& maybe HNL) be enough to keep the UC open at NRT?
SFO-NRT is still there and strong.

i expect UA will get 1 of ORD, IAH, or IAD to HND from the application. In other words, there should be at least 6 flights from NRT to mainland, 3 to GUM, 1 to HNL (if UA still flies that). it is very much still a hub, with one of the best UA Clubs in the system.
manstein58 and rustykettel like this.
amtrakusa is offline  
Old Feb 21, 2019, 12:58 pm
  #12  
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: HNL
Programs: UA HA AS
Posts: 102
Originally Posted by IAH-OIL-TRASH


I’ve been wondering for years how much longer UA was going to run HNL-Japan. I see the A380-equipped gate at the end of the Ewa concourse, but never have seen one there yet taxiiing by it on my regular HA flights between OGG and HNL. Going by it again in the a.m.
They start flying later this year. I think May.
waddy is offline  
Old Feb 21, 2019, 1:03 pm
  #13  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 21,406
Originally Posted by amtrakusa
it is very much still a hub, with one of the best UA Clubs in the system.
NRT is not a hub by any rational definition of the term. The only UA-operated flights from NRT are to UA hubs. The only reasonable way to connect on UA flights at NRT is to/from GUM. It's not a hub.

Austin has nearly 3x the number of UA-operated flights that NRT has, and nobody would call it a hub.
jsloan is offline  
Old Feb 21, 2019, 1:05 pm
  #14  
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: TYO / WAS / NYC
Programs: American Express got a hit man lookin' for me
Posts: 4,596
Originally Posted by JimInOhio
What's fundamentally different about the AA/JL relationship vs UA/NH?
NH currently has far more HND slots than JL. Officially this was to level the playing field following JL's bankruptcy, but many people say the Japanese government simply has a cozier relationship with NH, and their favoritism has created a situation where NH/UA have a far larger piece of the transpacific pie than JL/AA.
joejones is offline  
Old Feb 21, 2019, 1:12 pm
  #15  
 
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 622
Originally Posted by jsloan
NRT is not a hub by any rational definition of the term. The only UA-operated flights from NRT are to UA hubs. The only reasonable way to connect on UA flights at NRT is to/from GUM. It's not a hub.

Austin has nearly 3x the number of UA-operated flights that NRT has, and nobody would call it a hub.
even if irrational, UA calls NRT a hub. For example, see the route map.
prometa is offline  


Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.