JAL, ANA Unveil Coordinated Winter Timetables

Tokyo, Aug. 19 (Jiji Press)--Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways have announced their winter timetables, in which the competing companies coordinated their flight schedules on a domestic route for the first time.

The timetables from late October, released Tuesday, show that the two airlines will operate flights between Tokyo's Haneda Airport and Okayama Airport in western Japan in a way that they avoid overlaps.

The measure was taken to improve the profitability of their domestic flight services by enhancing convenience and capturing new demand.

Under the previous year's winter timetables, flights from Haneda to Okayama departed at 7:45 a.m. for ANA and 8:05 a.m. for JAL. Following the adjustment, ANA will depart at 7:25 a.m. and JAL at 8:20 a.m.

In May this year, an expert panel set up by the transport ministry said in a report that such flight schedule adjustments would not be seen as violating the antimonopoly law if some conditions are met.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]