JAL to Bolster China Flights from Haneda at the Expense of Narita

In its winter 2015 season, Japan Airlines (JAL) will launch new daily services linking Tokyo Haneda Airport with Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport and Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport.

JAL will start operating both new services from Tokyo Haneda Airport on October 25.

Japan Airlines has been operating a fleet of 32 two-class Boeing 767-300ERs. While the carrier is refurbishing the interiors of some of the aircraft to offer a new business-class cabin with flat bed seats and a new economy-class cabin with slimmer seats offering greater seat pitch and bigger seatback IFE screens, JAL is likely to retire many of its 767-300ERs as it continues to take delivery of new Boeing 787-8s

On October 25, also, JAL will introduce a second daily Tokyo Haneda-Beijing service. The airline will operate all three of the new Haneda flights with Boeing 767-300ER widebodies.

However, on October 25 Japan Airlines will drop one of its two daily Tokyo Narita-Beijing services (it currently operates this flight with Boeing 737-800s) and will also end its daily Tokyo Narita-Guangzhou service, which it operates with Boeing 767-300ERs.

Effectively, therefore, JAL’s winter 2015 schedule will partly or wholly replace service from Tokyo Narita to two major Chinese cities with new or additional service to those cities from Tokyo Haneda instead.

Haneda International Airport is much closer to downtown Tokyo than is Narita International Airport. In addition to being larger and busier than Narita, Haneda is widely recognized as a more convenient airport for businesspeople traveling between Japan and many Asian, North American and European destinations.

Japan Airlines operates 18 Boeing 767-300s and up to 32 Boeing 767-300ERs, one of which is shown in this photograph. It is likely these aircraft will all be replaced eventually by the 55 Boeing 787s which JAL has on order and option

JAL’s schedule for its new Tokyo Haneda-Shanghai  route will see flight JL085 depart Tokyo Haneda Airport (IATA code HND) at 2:40 p.m. daily from October 25 and land at Pudong International Airport (PVG) at 5:10 p.m. local time.

In the other direction, flight JL086 will leave PVG at 6:35 p.m. daily from October 25 and touch down at HND at 10:20 p.m. local time.

The airline’s new Haneda-Guangzhou service calls for flight JL087 to push back from the gate at HND at 8:50 a.m. daily from October 25 and reach Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN) at 1:05 p.m. local time.

JAL’s return flight, JL088, will vacate its gate at CAN at 2:50 p.m. daily from October 25 and get to HND at 7:45 p.m. local time.

This is the JAL Sky Wider seat, a larger and longer-seat-pitch economy seat which features in the Economy Class cabins of Japan Airlines’ Boeing 777-300ERs and 767-300ERs

Japan Airlines’ second daily Tokyo Haneda-Beijing service will see flight JL025 leave HND at 5:20 p.m. daily from October 25 and land at Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) at 8:30 p.m. local time.

The return flight, JL020, will depart PEK at 8:25 daily from October 26 and reach HND at 12:45 p.m. local time.

Beginning with its winter 2015 schedule, JAL is also extending its codeshares with China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines on routes between China and Japan.

One of China’s three largest airlines, China Eastern Airlines operates a varied and sizable fleet that includes 15 Airbus A330-300s and 31 A330-200s

From October 25, JAL will add its flight code to China Eastern’s daily round-trips linking Shanghai with Tokyo Haneda and China Southern’s daily round-trips between Guangzhou and Tokyo Haneda.

China Eastern is also planning to launch new four-times-weekly services this fall linking the seaport city of Dalian on the southern tip of the Liaodong Peninsula in China’s Liaoning Province with Tokyo Haneda and Osaka Kansai airports.

If it launches these services, Japan Airlines will add its ‘JL’ flight code to them.