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Japan Airlines Co. has abandoned plans to begin flights between Haneda airport and New York this fall, sources said Wednesday.
The move came as the transport ministry plans to apply rules limiting the opening of new routes by JAL, which was rehabilitated from its 2010 bankruptcy with taxpayer money, the sources said.
JAL is now looking to open the Haneda-New York route in fall 2017, after the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism scraps the rules, they said.
The airline had previously planned to start service on the route on Oct. 30, when U.S.-bound flights departing Haneda during the daytime begin, in line with a Japan-U.S. aviation agreement reached in February.
Under the Japan-U.S. deal, the number of flights connecting Haneda and the United States will rise to 12 from eight now, with Japanese and U.S. airlines getting six slots each.
The transport ministry has since given four slots to All Nippon Airways Co. and two to JAL to ensure a level playing field for competition between domestic airlines.
Starting Oct. 30, ANA will open routes linking Haneda to New York and Chicago, while continuing to serve the existing Haneda-Los Angeles and Haneda-Honolulu routes.
For its part, JAL will move its Haneda-San Francisco and Haneda-Honolulu flights to sometime between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. Japan time from the late-night and early-morning slots.