IN BRIEF | Japan Airlines is considering expanding its flights to Australia, with Perth cited as a front-funner.
Such a move would see the Oneworld airline and Qantas partner launch the only direct flights between the WA capital and Tokyo.
JAL Chairman Masaru Onishi flagged the move in an interview this week with Japanese news service Kyodo News.
Sydney-Tokyo is the Japanese flag-carrier's sole Australian route, with arch-competitor ANA set to launch its Boeing 787 onto the same route on December 11.
Follow Australian Business Traveller on Twitter: we're @AusBT
David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
27 Jun 2011
Total posts 37
This would be fantastic! I hope Qantas codeshares.
12 Dec 2012
Total posts 1031
I'm not sure JL and QF are allowed to codeshare on the direct flights between AU and JP - the ACCC wouldn't like it. That's why they codeshare on the flights via SIN instead.
Though that might change with ANA reentering the AU market.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
09 Feb 2015
Total posts 387
I'm sure now they are well on the road to restructuring that they will be a great airline once again. I have always enjoy there service.
Thai Airways International - Royal Orchid Plus
16 May 2011
Total posts 111
Who wants to bet that it might be another Australian city ;D
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
15 Dec 2014
Total posts 284
Loving the model plane pic ;)
30 Aug 2013
Total posts 438
This would be a perfect 5 weekly 787 route - the definition of 'long and thin'
31 Mar 2014
Total posts 397
At least this story can't be hijacked by "what about Perth"
12 Dec 2012
Total posts 1031
Isn't JAL restricted in which routes they can open for another year or 2 due to the government bailout during bankruptcy? It's why ANA got so many of the Japanese side HND long haul slots in the last release.
They might only be allowed to reopen BNE until that restriction is lifted.
20 May 2015
Total posts 579
Codeshare with QF, and using a 787-8? The 787-8 has a very low capacity with JAL... only 161 passengers, so I'm sure they could do it as a daily service.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
19 Feb 2014
Total posts 439
I wonder how much traffic Singapore Airlines would lose if this happened...
20 Apr 2015
Total posts 21
Singapore Airlines is screwed.
But while it can't compete with a non stop product, there are more frequencies.
20 May 2015
Total posts 579
"Singapore Airlines is screwed"
Really? Sure, they no longer own the Kangaroo Route but they still have a fantastic product. And have a lot of diehard fans in the premium cabins.
The future SQ is probably smaller than the current SQ, but I don't think it is fair to say SQ is screwed.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
19 Feb 2014
Total posts 439
I don't think they're 'screwed'....despite flying to Perth 4x daily, I did a dummy booking yesterday and found 3 of their flights a week in advance was fully booked...not 1 economy seat available.
Qantas
13 Jun 2015
Total posts 139
It's back to the future for Perth to Tokyo flights! Wowee!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
28 Dec 2011
Total posts 95
Why not Melb to Tokyo?? I ask this out of self interest. Because ANA and JAL both out of Sydney.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
19 Feb 2014
Total posts 439
That's the other city which may be on offer, but Jetstar already fly to Japan.
07 Dec 2015
Total posts 3
Why would PER get precedence when they have a good service through SIN (where the detour is not as great as it is going MEL-SIN-TYO)?
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
19 Feb 2014
Total posts 439
Some say that the Japanese market out of Melbourne is pretty small. The incoming market to WA is actually surprisingly large.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
26 May 2014
Total posts 463
The QF-JAL code shares for PER-TYO won't receive many J bookings given QF are operating 737s with limited low quality J. Perhaps JAL see an opportunity to capture more of the J market PER-TYO.
10 Dec 2015
Total posts 177
Because when a 1-stop product(i.e. via SIN) for PER-NRT mkt can be considered as <<a good service>>, then a nonstop product for the same mkt should logically be considered as an <excellent>(Or at least very good) service, no?
Excluding tranist time @ SIN on the ground, PER-SIN-NRT routing is @ least 2hrs longer cruise duration(Equivalent to an entire BNE-CNS flight) than PER-NRT.
As for "MEL-SIN-TYO", why take it if the detour bothers you that much? Just hop on a MEL-NRT nonstop available 5x wkly and has been around for yrs if convenience & shortest travel time are your priorities.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
31 Aug 2015
Total posts 121
This makes me think that the future holds a lot of smaller widebody aircraft on direct routes to Australia from major Asian hubs, instead of filling flights from major hubs with domestic partnerships.
Qatar will start from Adelaide with an A350, China Eastern is coming to Brisbane with an A330.. I think these will further pressure Qantas into making some decisions regarding their fleet planning and the replacement of their widebody aircraft with smaller alternatives to be able to compete. Indeed, the same goes for Virgin, I know that their ownership structure sort of prevents it from competing, but I think there's a place for Virgin Asian flights too.
I also just want to add that this isn't a request for Qantas flights out of cities other than Sydney, it is just my guess based on recent trends regarding routes.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
19 Feb 2014
Total posts 439
Looks almost confirmed:
https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/30291274/daily-direct-flight-from-tokyo-set-for-take-off/
06 Jan 2015
Total posts 66
Fantastic! This is great news for my snowboarding trips to Japan! :D
Jetstar Airways - Qantas Frequent Flyer
04 Mar 2013
Total posts 1
QF & JL have ALWAYS codeshared on this service , even since 1986 or so when the old service ( QF079 ) commenced. It ceased in 2011 . However it was a code share even before the word codeshare entered our vocabulary.
QF retain the rights so they will code share from JL.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
26 May 2014
Total posts 463
Found an announcement (on TravelDaily) from Dec 2010 of the authorisation of the PER-NRT codeshare and that it would expire at the end of 2012.
Hi Guest, join in the discussion on Japan Airlines eyes Perth-Tokyo flights