Carrier's switch to Narita not a setback, officials say
By Michele Kayal
Advertiser Staff Writer
Taiwan's China Airlines will move its Japan-Hawai'i flights from Haneda Airport in Tokyo to the more remote Narita Airport in May, but Hawai'i officials who want to see more international flights from Haneda say they do not regard the development as a setback.
Representatives of China Airlines say the Japanese government asked them to move their five weekly Honolulu flights to Narita, which Japan has tried to maintain as the country's international airport almost exclusively.
China Airlines has been flying from Haneda because Mainland China traditionally has refused to allow Air China to share an airport with the Taiwanese flag-carrier. Air China flies into Narita.
"The People's Republic of China government is not insisting on their policy on this (anymore)," said China Airlines spokesman Paul Wang.
Wang added that Taiwan and Mainland China now share several airports throughout Southeast Asia.
The remnants of the Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after Communist forces defeated them on the mainland.
Hawai'i tourism executives have long lobbied for international traffic out of Haneda, which the Japanese government until recently has guarded as exclusively domestic.
Hawai'i officials say opening Haneda to international flights will increase air service to Hawai'i, and, in turn, Japanese tourism.
Narita is congested and tightly controlled, and U.S. airlines have not always been able to offer as many flights from there as they would like.
Local officials said they do not regard China Airlines' move as a negative signal.
"We remain positive that things are looking toward unrestricted internationalization at Haneda," said Sharon Har, executive aide for Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono.
Hirono has said increased access to Haneda could eventually boost Japanese tourism to the Islands by 10 percent.
In February, the Japanese government allowed two charter flights from Haneda to arrive in Hawai'i.
Starting in April, Japan will allow up to 70 international charter flights a week from Haneda in anticipation of the soccer World Cup, which will take place in Japan and South Korea in June 2002.
It is unclear how long those charter flights will continue.
