Isles to gain from stopgap
air agreement

Japanese and U.S. negotiators agreed in Washington late Tuesday to resolve differences over what is allowed in the existing airline agreement between the two countries, so as to pave the way for talks toward a new pact.

Hawaii, held hostage in the argument over bigger issues according to some commentators, will see increased Japan tourism traffic under these new arrangements:

--Japan Airlines is allowed to begin its Tokyo-Kona direct service of three Boeing 747 flights a week. The temporary approval is good for flights through Oct. 26.

--JAL also gets to increase its Honolulu service from Sendai, northeast of Tokyo, to seven flights a week from three, beginning tomorrow. That approval is good for five weeks.

--United won its "beyond-rights" case and will be allowed to carry Japanese and other passengers from Kansai International Airport at Osaka to South Korea, in a daily service through Oct. 26.

--United also gets to double its Los Angeles-Tokyo service to two flights a day, also for five weeks.

Gilbert Kimura, a Honolulu spokesman for JAL, said on Wednesday that the airline hopes to begin the Kona service in early June. It will take that long to reposition aircraft for the route and to resume Kona promotions, which had been dropped when U.S. approval did not come in time for the planned April 1 start of the service.

The U.S. Department of Transportation recently approved JAL's Sendai-Honolulu service for three flights a week until the end of September. JAL now will get four more weekly flights on that route for five weeks.

Both sides still have what the Japanese senior negotiator called hostages, by restricting the added Sendai-Honolulu service to five weeks. The intent, said Jiro Hanyu, counselor in charge of international aviation at Japan's Transport Ministry, is to ensure that talks resume as planned on June 3 in Tokyo.

Those talks are aimed at setting a starting date for formal discussions of the whole U.S.-Japan passenger agreement, most of which has been in effect since 1952.

On the Kona route, JAL expects to bring 48,000 visitors a year to Hawaii County, Big Island Mayor Steve Yamashiro said on Tuesday. "The annual economic impact is conservatively projected at $100 million," he said.

Representatives of the Big Island's tourism industry greeted the air pact with enthusiasm.

"Hallelujah!" said Noelani Whittington, executive director of the Kohala Coast Resort Association. "Christmas came a little late, but man, it's here." she said.

JAL had to abandon its Kona plans after U.S. officials said they would not approve the route unless Japan granted United Airlines' request for additional flight routes into and through Japan.

United Chairman Gerald Greenwald said in a news statement that the agreement is an important first step toward breaking down U.S.-Japan aviation barriers.

"It will have an immediate and direct benefit to consumers in both Japan and the U.S., particularly in Hawaii," Greenwald said.

He said the Seoul-Osaka link will feed passengers to United flights between Osaka and Honolulu, San Francisco and Los Angeles.