JAL’s bankruptcy comes back to haunt it as authorities award ANA more Haneda slots

All Nippon Airways Co., the nation’s largest carrier by sales, will get eight new domestic slots at Tokyo’s Haneda airport next year, more than twice as many as its biggest rival Japan Airlines Co.

JAL, as the airline is also known, will get three of the berths, according to a statement from the transport ministry today. Skymark Airlines Inc. will receive four, Star Flyer Inc. five, Hokkaido Air System Co. two and Skynet Asia Airways Co. three, it said.

The government is expanding slots at Haneda, the nation’s busiest airport, after adding a fourth runway and a new international terminal in 2010 to tap growing Asian demand for travel. JAL, which held the world’s second-largest initial public offering this year in September after a government-backed turnaround, received fewer slots because the allocation is based on flight operations over the previous five years and excluded periods when a company received government assistance.

ANA shares fell 1.1 percent to 176 yen as of 2:11 p.m. in Tokyo. JAL rose 0.4 percent to 3,765 yen. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average advanced 0.7 percent.

All Nippon will have a total of 171.5 domestic slots at Haneda after the increase, compared with 183.5 for Japan Air, according to the statement.

Editors: Dave McCombs, Garry Smith. To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Cooper in Tokyo at [email protected]; Kiyotaka Matsuda in Tokyo at [email protected]. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Neil Denslow at [email protected].