Transport minister Seiji Maehara indicated Tuesday that daytime flights linking Japan with North America and Europe may become available at Tokyo's Haneda airport as the government eyes turning it into a 24-hour hub for international flights.
Haneda, which currently has only chartered international flights to cities such as Hong Kong, is expected to boost its capacity substantially after it opens its fourth runway next fall.
The government has long held a policy of separating the roles of Haneda and Narita International Airport. Narita has served as Tokyo's major international gateway while Haneda has concentrated on domestic flights. Because of this policy, Haneda airport had initially expected to begin long-distance international flights to and from North America and Europe only from midnight to the early morning hours.
But Maehara said such flights will also become available during daytime.
He has said he wants to turn Haneda into a hub airport to bolster Japan's competitiveness and do away with Narita and Haneda's traditional roles.
Of the roughly 60,000 slots expected to be available in 2011 or later, Maehara intends to allocate half to international flights to cities in Europe and North America.