Japan and the U.S. on Tuesday began two days of talks on the allocation of slots for flights connecting Tokyo's Haneda airport and U.S. cities, the transport ministry said.
The meeting in Tokyo will focus on whether to expand the allocation of slots at Haneda for Japanese and U.S. airlines for daytime flights to and from the United States. Daytime flights take off or land between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m.
If an agreement is reached, new slots are expected to allow airlines to launch flights leaving Haneda during the day for U.S. East Coast cities, including New York, in autumn at the earliest.
Currently, eight slots are allocated to flights linking Haneda with the U.S. West Coast and Hawaii between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. Sources close to the matter said Japan is proposing to reduce the number of those late night and early morning slots to two and offer 10 daytime slots, bringing the total to 12.
The negotiations could last until Thursday, according to ministry officials.
The negotiators failed to reach an accord in talks in Washington in December, due apparently to conflicting stances among U.S. airlines.