Low-cost airline AirAsia Japan to relaunch later this month
16/10/2017 07:52
SINGAPORE, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Low-cost airline AirAsia Japan
on Monday said it would begin its first flights from Nagoya
later this month, more than two years after Malaysia's AirAsia
Bhd AIRA.KL announced plans to re-enter the Japanese market
with new partners.
A prior AirAsia Japan, a joint venture with Japanese carrier
ANA Holdings Inc 9202.T , was dissolved in 2013 and used as the
basis for the launch of ANA subsidiary Vanilla Air.
AirAsia owns 49 percent of the new AirAsia Japan, which has
two Airbus SE AIR.PA A320 narrow body aircraft and will be
based at Nagoya. The other partners include Rakuten Inc
4755.T , Octave Japan Infrastructure Fund I GK, Noveir Holdings
Co Ltd and Alpen Co Ltd 3028.T .
The airline had received an air operator's certificate in
2015 and had initially expected to start flying in the first
half of 2016.
However, AirAsia Japan had been waiting until now for final
regulatory approvals to launch in a market where it will rival
ANA's low-cost carriers Vanilla and Peach as well as the Jetstar
Japan joint venture between Japan Airlines Co 9201.T and
Australia's Qantas Airways Ltd QAN.AX .
"It's great to be back in Japan," AirAsia Group CEO Tony
Fernandes said in a statement. "It hasn't been easy ... Many
people thought we would give up and not bother but we owe it to
the people of Japan and our staff to keep going."
AirAsia Japan's first flights, twice-daily between Nagoya
and Sapporo, are set to begin on Oct. 29.
(Reporting by Jamie Freed; Editing by Stephen Coates)
((Jamie.Freed@thomsonreuters.com; +65 6318 4789;))
Keywords: AIRASIA JAPAN/