Transport minister Seiji Maehara said Friday that Japan and the United States will hold an extra day of talks in Washington after failing to strike an agreement on an open skies accord to liberalize their civil aviation markets.
After four days of talks, Maehara said the two sides have not ironed out details on the allocation of slots at Narita International Airport and Tokyo's Haneda airport and added without any elaboration that technical issues remained.
"We are not going to rush through this issue, but we will conclude it after making our position clear in equal Japan-U.S. negotiations," Maehara said. "It would be OK to take some time."
It remains uncertain whether the two countries can finish the negotiations by the end of the year as earlier claimed. A delay could affect the direction of heated capital tieup talks between two U.S. carriers and struggling Japan Airlines Corp.
An open skies pact would give air carriers more freedom to open routes and select the number of flights between the two countries, and lower antitrust barriers for big airlines.
The latest round was the fifth of its kind since Tokyo and Washington entered into negotiations in October 2008.
Tokyo and Washington both see the merits of such an accord, with the United States wanting to enhance its Asian routes by strengthening its alliance with Japanese air carriers, and Japan aiming to boost the presence of its international airports.