NEW YORK, June 6 (Reuters) - Japan's Transport Ministry will grant three landing slots at Tokyo's domestic Haneda airport to domestic carrier Skymark Airlines Co. (9204), after a planned merger between Japan's top and third-ranked airlines frees up nine slots there, a Japanese paper reported. The integration between Japan Airlines Co. (JAL) (9201), Japan's No. 1 airline, and Japan Air System Co. (JAS) (9203) in October calls for the two to return 9 out of 192 Haneda landing slots to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Skymark, established in November 1996, will use the new slots to raise the number of flights linking Tokyo and Kagoshima in the southern island of Kyushu, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun's Friday online edition said. Japan's Fair Trade Commission in April approved the merger creating the world's sixth largest airline on condition that the nine slots at the lucrative domestic hub be returned. The ministry is planning to allocate the remaining six slots to other competitors, the paper said. Skymark is also expected to apply for more slots to increase flights on the Tokyo-Fukuoka route, also in Kyushu. Separately, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported that No. 2 Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways Co. Ltd. (9202) aims to fend off competition by raising its share of Haneda slots to above 50 percent from the current 35 percent. The paper's Friday online edition quoted ANA president Yoji Ohashi as saying the carrier planned to cut unprofitable routes later this year and boost cash-rich routes linking Tokyo and such cities as Sapporo in northern Japan and Fukuoka. ©2002 Reuters Limited.