U.S., Japan open skies pact to help cargo

U.S., Japan open skies pact to help cargo    The United States and Japan signed an 'open skies' agreement on Monday that would liberalize the aviation market between the two countries.
   The framework of the deal was announced last December, but Japanese authorities refrained from signing the pact until the U.S. government completed antitrust immunity reviews of joint ventures sought by Japanese and U.S. airlines.
   Earlier this month the Justice Department approved a joint business venture between United Airlines, Continental Airlines and All Nippon Airways. United and Continental also were recently permitted to proceed with their merger.
   The Justice Department also gave the green light to a venture between bankrupt Japan Airlines and American Airlines to combine their transpacific networks.
   Japanese regulators also gave antitrust immunity Monday to United, Continental and ANA.
   The lifting of airline, flight and route restrictions opens opportunities for air cargo operators. Until now United, Delta and FedEx have been the only U.S. carriers allowed access to Japan. UPS is among the expected beneficiaries of the new deal.
   Japan is opening its air travel market to expand tourism and because Japan's two primary carriers are in financial difficulty. Tokyo's Narita airport has recently added more slots and Haneda airport in downtown Tokyo recently built a new runway to handle more capacity.