The US government is proposing to award Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines with routes to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, the Department of Transportation said Friday. Access to what has been primarily a domestic airport near downtown Tokyo is much coveted by US carriers, who for years had been limited to serving Narita Airport, which is further from the city. The four daily round trip flights are a result of a new, liberalised air treaty between the two countries in December and an expansion of Haneda.

The selection of these carriers is also aimed at promoting competition among the global airline alliances. Delta is a member of SkyTeam, and Northwest Airlines, which Delta acquired in 2008, already has a big presence at Narita and throughout Asia. American is a member of oneworld and cooperates with Japan Airlines Corp., that nation’s leading carrier and a big player at Haneda. Hawaiian is unaligned, but Hawaii is an important destination to Japanese travellers.

Also applying for Haneda takeoff and landing slots were UAL Corp.’s United Airlines and Continental Airlines Inc., which earlier announced plans to merge. They are in the Star Alliance and both serve Japanese markets on their own. Japan’s No. 2 carrier, All Nippon Airways Co., also is a member of Star and has extensive flight operations at Haneda.

The DOT said objections to its proposal will be heard, after which it will issue a final decision. The selected airlines will be required to begin Haneda flights by the end of January 2011.

Hawaiian Airlines recently added to its Asia portfolio by starting flights to Sydney and Manila.