TokyoHaneda.com – Your Gateway to Japan

Japan Airlines (JAL) was named the winner of the 2009 “FlightStats On-Time Performance Service (OPS) Award”, conferred by Conducive Technology Corporation – a data provider of reliable flight information to the transportation industry. Based on statistics tabulated by Conducive’s FlightStats, 90.95% of 216,478 JAL-operated scheduled flights in the calendar year 2009 arrived at their destinations on-time. JAL emerged as the most punctual airline among 46 major global carriers evaluated for this award while regionally, JAL Express ranked first in the category of most on-time carrier in Asia, ahead of 21 other contending carriers.

In addition to being firmly committed to providing passengers with the safest standards in flight operations and offering high quality products and services, Japan Airlines regards punctuality as a basic quality of an airline that passengers can trust. The JAL Group established an On-Time Performance Project which sought to involve all Group employees by soliciting ideas to improve on-time performance while maintaining strict safety standards. With the collective efforts of all staff, and with the understanding and cooperation of valued passengers who arrive at their boarding gates promptly, JAL was able to ensure timely departure of its flights and thereby win this recognition.

The JAL Group continues to place flight safety as the highest regard in its daily operations, and endeavors to maintain on-time departures so as to be a reliable carrier of customer’s choice.

No use crying over spilled milk now, I must say. “You build it so they will come” and so that investors will flood the door when infrastructure is in place. Who are to be blamed? Those who hope to profit from the economic benefit an airport are just as guilty, don’t just blame it on the salesman, the people in the office who decided the construction of the airport. However they will not sleep well every night without being pricked by guilt.

Ibaraki Airport now officially recognised as the 98th airport opened in Japan, has been making headlines for the past few months prior to its opening, with everyone’s questioning its very existance, the need for its construction. It opened at a tough time when bad news are pouring everywhere and after the bankruptcy of Japan Airlines, largest Airlines in Asia, whose main reasons contributing to its failure were believed to be from over expanding too quickly and relation with the past administration, often being pressured to operate from several airports that could hardly able to fill enough passengers on its flight.

With a new JAL, from now on being closely watched by the public and tendency to be scrutinized for one small mistake, it quickly turned down the offer when asked to consider flying into Ibaraki airport. No question asked. JAL’s rival, ANA, rejected using Ibaraki airport too. This explained why Ibaraki airport opened on the 11th of this month with only one single regular flight at opening and one domestic flight to commence a month later after opening.

No one would expect this to have happened. Those numbers were looking so promising and everyone thought the plan will take off. Again unfortunately the numbers were bloated to trick people into believing that decisions were not wrongly made. It is done so so that it will allow for multi-million dollars construction works to be passed. Not realizing that what is in demand are construction projects but not airports.

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