Tokyo's busy Haneda airport is the latest battleground for Japan's two big carriers, Japan Airlines Co Ltd and ANA Holdings , in a politically-charged fight over $400 million worth of landing rights.
The two carriers have locked horns for decades at home, but this clash threatens to take on an international dimension by embroiling British Airways and other foreign carriers.
At issue are 20 new landing slots at Haneda, the world's fourth busiest airport, which according to industry experts, can generate around $20 million each in annual operating profit.
With no new runways or airports planned for Japan's capital, the October ruling will likely be the last major slot distribution in Tokyo for years and could give one of the two carriers a competitive edge.
Aviation regulators will decide who gets the slots by October. Normally the allotment, available after the opening of a new runway, would be split down the middle, but ANA argues it deserves the lot. Getting them all would for the first time make it Japan's biggest international carrier.