Kansai Airport adds Mideast flights
The Yomiuri Shimbun
Kansai Airport adds Middle east flights
OSAKA--Flights from Kansai Airport to the Middle East are increasing as Kansai International Airport Co. is hoping the routes will attract tourists from around the nation.
Dubai-based Emirates Airline was the first Middle East carrier to offer services at the airport with flights to and from Dubai from October 2002. The number of flights per week increased from four to seven in April 2004.
Qatar Airways followed in April 2005 with flights to and from Doha, becoming the only available flights to the destination from Japan. The airline increased the flights per week from four to five on June 21 to meet demand.
With these increases, there are now an unprecedented 12 flights per week to Gulf nations.
Saudi Arabian Airlines also announced that it will offer flights between Kansai Airport and the Gulf. The service is expected to start in mid-July at the earliest with two flights a week.
Airlines from oil-producing countries can aggressively develop routes, as they are not subject to the high price of crude oil that plagues other airlines. Although the region's airlines are trying to increase their services to and from Japan, Narita Airport already has a full flight schedule. As a result, Kansai Airport has become the choice for major Middle East airlines, according to a Japanese airline official.
"They have Japanese-speaking flight attendants, and the in-flight meals were nice," said a 66-year-old man from Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, who flew from Kansai Airport to Doha.
The airport is currently unable to increase its routes to China, of which it has the most in Japan, as talks between Japan and China over flight services are at a standstill.
"We want to increase Middle East routes with the opening of a second runway on Aug. 2, 2007," a spokesman for the airport said.
(Jun. 28, 2006)
- Daily Yomiuri -




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