Both Middle East carriers Emirates and Etihad Airways launched their flights to Tokyo yesterday with Qatar Airways to follow suit on 26th April.
Emirates are now operating 5 weekly flights to Tokyo, adding to its daily service to Osaka that was launched back in 2002.
A large demand is already in place from Tokyo with almost 75,000 passengers from the Kanto area travelleing to Dubai between 2008 and 2009 using the route to and from Osaka. Emirates are now able to offer a non-stop service for these passengers through their Narita, Tokyo service.
In addition, Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways are also operating 5 non-stop flights each week to Tokyo, on top of the 5 flights per week it currently offers to Nagoya. Etihad are expecting high volumes of traffic on the route, with business travellers in particular.
Etihad’s Tokyo service follows on from the introduction of Etihad’s flights to Nagoya in February this year and code-share services with All Nippon Airways this month.
The Doha-based Qatar Airways which currently operates flights to Osaka will also be introducing flights to the Japanese capital of Tokyo daily, representing a significant increase in capacity for the Japanese market. The route has been on Qatar Airways’ wish list of destinations for a number of years although it is only now that they are able to serve Tokyo due to new traffic rights and slot availability at the city’s main Narita International Airport.”
According to industry figures, trade relations between Japan and the UAE have grown by 300 per cent to more than $57 billion (Dh209.3bn) in 2008 from $14bn in 2002. Currently, there are about 350 Japanese companies operating in the UAE and more than 3,500 Japanese expatriates living in the UAE.