Would Fly Daily, Year-Round Service With Boeing 777s

American Airlines has formally submitted an application to the United States DOT proposing to operate daily, year-round, nonstop service between Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Tokyo's Haneda Airport (HND). Per the U.S.-Japan bilateral agreement, U.S. airlines may only operate a total of four daily round-trip flights at Haneda Airport. Currently that service is provided by Delta Air Lines from Los Angeles and Seattle, Hawaiian Airlines from Honolulu, and United Airlines from San Francisco.

American's application seeks to transfer an existing route authority from Seattle, and would provide new service to Haneda from American's hub in Los Angeles. "With only four authorized daily flights for U.S. airlines between Haneda and the United States, it is imperative that American be allowed to compete," said American's President Scott Kirby. "We are the only U.S. global network carrier without the authority to operate our own aircraft at Haneda. American's proposed Los Angeles-Haneda service will increase competition in the Haneda market and make the most of underutilized operating rights by giving millions of consumers and shippers a new, viable travel option to Haneda that they don't have today."

In December, the DOT instituted a carrier-selection proceeding to determine whether current service between Seattle and Haneda should be reallocated to another airline. Citing underutilization of a scarce resource, American seeks a reallocation of the Haneda authority. The airline intends to fly it year-round with daily service from Los Angeles. American's application is in response to the DOT's decision to consider the best allocation of the slots.

American will operate its proposed LAX-HND service with a Boeing 777-200 aircraft.

FMI: www.aa.com/LetAAFlyHaneda