Ben Mutzabaugh

USA TODAY

The United States and Japan reached a deal Thursday on allocating slots for international flights at Tokyo’s close-to-downtown Haneda Airport.

The deal opens up more favorable flight times for U.S. carriers, which so far have been restricted to flights that depart or arrive mostly during unpopular overnight hours.

Reuters reports the deal would “give Japanese and U.S. carriers five new slots each between 0600 and 2300, and cut the number of slots between 2200 and 0700 from four to one, Japan's Ministry of Land Infrastructure and Land said in a news release.”

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Negotiations for a change to slot restrictions at Haneda had been delayed after objections from Delta Air Lines, which felt new rules might offer a greater benefit to rivals American and United.

Delta operates an Asian hub at Toyko’s Narita Airport, which is much farther from central Tokyo than Haneda. But American and United each have close ties with a Japanese partner, allowing them to funnel connecting passengers to each other’s flights via either Haneda or Narita.

ALSO ONLINE: Delta: Japan deal threatens Asia flights (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

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Delta has suggested that improving U.S. carriers' access to Haneda could prompt more U.S. customers to choose Haneda instead of Narita, possibly imperling Delta’s hub at Narita.

Delta had previously said it should receive a disproportionate number of new slots at Haneda to aid it against its competitors, according to Bloomberg News. Otherwise, the airline has warned publicly, it might cancel its own Tokyo flights from hubs like Atlanta and Minneapolis if U.S. customers increasingly choose to fly to Haneda.

But while Delta may be unhappy with the how updated agreement turned out, American and United each lauded the deal.

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“We thank the U.S. Departments of Transportation and State, as well as the Japan Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, for taking this important step to enhance the U.S.-Japan aviation relationship,” American Airlines President Scott Kirby says in a statement. “It’s important for our customers to have convenient access to downtown Tokyo during the day, and this agreement also allows for desirable arrival and departure times in the U.S. for Haneda service.”

United struck a similar tone.

"Offering daytime service to and from the heart of Tokyo will create appealing new business and leisure travel opportunities for our global customers,” the carrier said in a statement posted to its website. “We congratulate the U.S. Departments of Transportation and State on the successful completion of these important negotiations, and we look forward to providing more convenient access to this key market from our San Francisco hub, where United offers more nonstop trans-Pacific flights than any other carrier."

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