The United States and Japan agreed to expand an air services agreement to provide additional passenger and cargo access to Asia.

The U.S. Transportation Department said more talks are planned with an open-skies type deal as a long-sought goal. The U.S.-Japan bilateral policy is one of the most restrictive in the complex web of global aviation deals despite attempts to liberalize it, the Financial Times said Friday.

The first change in the 1998 agreement offers additional opportunities for cargo carriers and limited passenger expansion.

For example, UPS, the world's largest package freight operator, will be able to add six daily flights to Nagoya to its existing daily services to Tokyo and Osaka and connect these to its Shanghai regional hub, the report said.

Another freight operator, Polar Air Cargo, is being allowed to start services to Osaka. // Copyright 2007 by United Press International


Publication date: 14 September 2007   

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