
The new agreement, also allowing Israeli cargo flights via Japan to 3rd countries, will allow 14 direct flights weekly between Israel and Japan.
• This year brought new flight routes to Beijing, Hong Kong, and now Tokyo. “The skies to the Far East continue to open,” Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz says.
By Ilan Gattegno
Israel and Japan on Thursday signed an agreement to form new, direct commercial flight paths between the two countries.
Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz and Japanese Ambassador to Israel Koji Tomita signed the deal in Jerusalem in a ceremony attended by Transportation and Foreign Ministry officials, representatives from the Civil Aviation Authority, and the Japanese deputy ambassador and commercial attache.
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The deal will allow Israeli airlines to operate direct flights to any destination in Japan, including the country’s main gateway, Narita International Airport in Tokyo. Japanese airlines will be able to operate direct flights from Tokyo to Israel.
The agreement, signed after intense negotiations in Tokyo in 2015 between Israeli Civil Aviation Authority officials and their Japanese counterparts, renewed and upgraded an existing commercial flight agreement between the two countries, signed in 2000.
According to the new deal, up to 14 new direct flights will become available between the two countries each week.
The agreement also allows Israeli airlines to operate cargo flights from Ben-Gurion International Airport to a third country via Japan, as well as to sign code-share agreements with third-party airlines.
Most major airlines worldwide have code-share partnerships with other airlines, as these are considered a key tool in expanding an airline’s passenger base and extending its service to new markets.
The deal follows the announcement this week by Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific, considered one of world’s best airlines, that it will begin operating direct flights between Hong Kong and Tel Aviv in March 2017.
“The skies to the Far East continue to open and Israeli passengers have everything to gain,” Katz said Thursday. He said deals with Asian airlines are pursued “as part of the Transportation Ministry’s policy to increase the liberalization of the aviation industry in Israel.”
View original Israel Hayom publication at:
http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=37471