According to the Centre for Aviation (CAPA) Tokyo has become the most affected city by the grounding of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner because Japan’s two leading airlines – All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines – have about half of the world’s 787 deliveries.

 

“ANA and JAL operate out of Tokyo Haneda and Tokyo Narita, and it is Haneda airport alone that has seen the widest impact as there are 229 weekly 787 frequencies, more than four times the next largest 787 airport, Delhi,” says CAPA. Tokyo Narita sees the third most number of 787 services with 35 weekly flights.

 

The Federal Aviation Administration addressed the uproar surrounding various incidents involving the aircraft, in a statement earlier this month. “We’re confident about the safety of this aircraft. But we are concerned about these incidents and we will conduct this review until we are satisfied.”

 

CAPA says that Japan’s carriers, and ANA especially, should be best equipped to mitigate the grounding. Schedules have slack and system load factors are low, at around 60-70%.

 

A political dispute between China and Japan, followed by TRBusiness.com, has seen capacity on bilateral routes fall by over 20%, giving further wiggle room in schedules.

 

“One saving grace of this incident, provided it is resolved soon, is that this is the low season for travel. That is not to say airlines will not face challenges – or find the situation acceptable. But, for airports, there is an unavoidable loss of revenues, as these airlines reduce their 787 services,” adds CAPA.