Smooth connections from Haneda
Three members of oneworld® – Japan Airlines (JAL), American Airlines, and Cathay Pacific Airways (CX), along with China Airlines, will begin offering codeshare air service on October 21, 2010. This new agreement will include codeshare flights from Haneda’s international terminal with American Airlines to 6 destinations in the United States via San Francisco and with Air France to 14 cities in Europe via Paris.
There will be 13 daily JAL-operated flights on 10 international routes out of Haneda from October 31, 2010. Additionally, JAL’s international network springing from the newest terminal will cover eleven destinations when it places its “JL” indicator on American’s new daily New York flight come January 2011. JAL will also market Cathay Pacific’s twice daily flights to Hong Kong and China Airlines’ twice daily flights to Taipei (Songshan). Together with an increase in the number of flights on the Haneda=Seoul (Gimpo) and Haneda-Shanghai (Hongqiao) routes operated by existing codeshare partners Korean Air and China Eastern respectively, JAL will soon offer its customers up to 22 daily flights a day from Haneda, reaching out to 11 cities around the world.
Furthermore, as part of its codeshare agreement with American Airlines, JAL customers can connect easily to 6 destinations in the United States namely Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, New York, and Honolulu from JAL’s Haneda-San Francisco flight.
Customers bound for Europe can also enjoy the convenience of traveling through Haneda airport, with JAL’s daily flight to Paris – the only Europe-bound flight from the new terminal. Under an expanded agreement with long-term bilateral partner Air France, passengers can connect with ease from JAL’s Haneda-Paris flight to Marseilles and Toulouse – new destinations on JAL’s network map, as well as 12 other European cities of Stockholm, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Lyon, Nice, Munich, Berlin, Prague, Warsaw, and Istanbul. Customers will be able to arrive in most of the local cities in France, Germany, Spain, or North Europe early in the day just before noon. JAL will continue to operate a daily flight from Narita Airport to Paris, where customers can also connect on existing codeshare flights with Air France to key points around Europe.
JAL will endeavor to support the various needs of its customers, in particular business travelers visiting the capital, by maximizing the first-ever, round-the-clock airport to open in metropolitan Tokyo. Information on reservations and ticket sales of codeshare flights with Cathay Pacific will be advised at a later time, while bookings and ticket purchase for other new codeshare flights will begin from October 1, 2010.
Flights connecting Japan and Hong Kong
Japan Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airways have also entered into an agreement to expand their codeshare partnership, subject to government approval, to include all flights operated by both carriers between Japan and Hong Kong from this fall.
At present, JAL operates 3 daily CX-operated flights that connect Osaka, Nagoya, and Fukuoka with Hong Kong. From October 31, 2010, however, in addition to codesharing on the newly-established Hong Kong-Haneda flights, both airlines will also begin to market each other’s flights linking Hong Kong with Narita and Sapporo, increasing the number of codeshare flights to 2 per day operated by JAL, and 16 per day operated by CX.
Commenting on the strengthened relationship between the 2 oneworld carriers, Japan Airlines president and chief operating officer Masaru Onishi said: “This is a favorable and appropriate time for us to extend our codeshare agreement. I am certain this development in our alliance will complement the convenience of flying to and from Haneda Airport, and oneworld customers in this region of growth will have more travel solutions than ever before as they continue to enjoy the high standards of both of our services.”
Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Tony Tyler said: “Japan Airlines is one of our long-term code-share partners and we are pleased we are able to expand our cooperation with them in one of our major markets in Asia.”
“This new agreement comes at a perfect time as we will be operating a twice-daily service to Haneda and increasing frequencies to Tokyo to seven daily from October 31. The codeshare flights with Japan Airlines will provide customers with even more choice,” said Cathay Pacific director of sales and marketing Rupert Hogg.
Commencement of reservations and ticket purchase of the new codeshare flights will be announced as soon as it is decided.
Japan Airlines and Cathay Pacific will continue to explore possible codeshare arrangements beyond their Japan-Hong Kong routes so that they may further enhance the convenience and travel options of oneworld customers in Asia in the near future.
