United Arab Emirates (UAE) carrier Emirates Airline will significantly increase capacity between its Dubai International Airport hub and the Japanese capital Tokyo with the introduction of a new daily service to Haneda Airport from June 3, 2013. The new rotation will supplement the Gulf carrier’s existing daily flight to Narita International Airport, which was upguaged from a Boeing 777 to an Airbus A380 in July 2012 to meet the growing demand for flights to/from Dubai and wider destinations within Emirates’ network.

Haneda Airport is located closer to the centre of Tokyo in Ota-ku and handles the majority of domestic flights to and from the Japanese; it opened its doors to international carriers following the opening of the fourth runway and the international terminal in October 2010 and a growing number of carriers have been pushing for the limited number of international slots available at the in-demand facility.

Emirates will use a three-class, 266-seat B777-200LR to serve the airport, currently ranked as the second busiest in Asia and which will be the 131st destination in the UAE carrier’s global network. "As Emirates' third gateway in Japan, the Dubai to Haneda route will help to build on the vibrant relationship between the United Arab Emirates and Japan, in terms of trade and increasing the opportunities for business and tourism," said Thierry Antinori, Executive Vice President, Passenger Sales Worldwide, Emirates Airline.

"We have been operating to Japan since 2002 when we introduced non-stop flights to Osaka; our commitment continued when we launched flights to Narita International Airport in 2010. We are confident that the demand in terms of both passengers and cargo is strong enough to warrant Emirates operating non-stop, daily flights to both of Tokyo's airports, offering our passengers more flexibility on the route to Dubai and onwards to over 70 destinations in the Indian Ocean, Middle East, Africa and Europe," added Antinori.

The launch of the second daily service will increase Emirates’ daily capacity between Dubai and Tokyo by 51.5 per cent. The carrier is the sole operator on the route, which is operated under a longstanding codeshare with Japan Airlines. This arrangement will be extended to the new Haneda service offering additional flight options, although the proposed schedule and a 00:01 arrival in Tokyo could limit these to passengers originating outside of Japan.

The additional rotation will also bring freight benefits with Emirates SkyCargo able to provide an additional 210 tonnes of cargo capacity per week, further supporting Japanese exports of mechanical components, electronic goods and automobile parts, and its imports of gas and oil products. Dubai is an important hub for the re-export of Japanese manufactured products to the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia.

In the table below we highlight the top destination markets for passengers flying on Emirates’ service between Dubai and Tokyo Narita during 2011, its first full calendar year of operation. It is estimated that Emirates passengers disembarking in Japanese capital began journeys at 120 different airports during this period, while those departing from Tokyo ended their flights at 113 different destinations.