British Airways plans to increase flights between Tokyo's Haneda airport and London after it launches the route in February with five round-trip flights a week, Chief Executive Willie Walsh said Wednesday.
The airline will start daily services between London and Haneda, which resumed full-fledged international operations in October, in "due course," Walsh said.
BA will also maintain its flights to and from Narita International Airport to enable its customers to choose which airport to use depending on their convenience, he said.
Meanwhile, BA will support fellow oneworld aviation alliance member Japan Airlines as it seeks to rebuild itself but will not participate in JAL's plan to boost its capital from private institutions, Walsh said.
The struggling airline has announced a plan to boost its capital by ¥50 billion from private institutions in addition to the already set ¥350 billion investment by the government-backed Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp. of Japan.
Regarding a plan by Skymark Airlines to start international services in fiscal 2014 and operate low-price Narita-London flights, Walsh expressed skepticism about whether the airline's business plan would succeed.
BA nevertheless welcomes Skymark' participation and is not afraid of competition, Walsh said.
In a separate interview with Bloomberg, Walsh said BA wants to form a venture with JAL to pare costs by sharing facilities.
The accord would be similar to a joint services agreement the carrier has with Qantas Airways Ltd. on U.K.-Australia routes, he said.