ANA will create a new Tokyo-based low-cost carrier, following the end of its Japanese joint venture with AirAsia.
The Japanese airline agreed to dissolve its partnership with AirAsia in June 2013, with ANA buying AirAsia’s stake in the business. And while operations under the AirAsia Japan brand are due to cease in October 2013, ANA has now confirmed that it will establish a new low-cost carrier by the end of the year.
“Today ANA announces that it will establish a new company under which to operate. ANA will expand this new LCC business, based at Tokyo-Narita and Nagoya, utilising the existing experience of AirAsia Japan along with the expertise of ANA Group’s management,” the company said in a statement.
“This new LCC business will make pleasure and resort destinations more accessible to customers, capturing broader market demand in the Tokyo area. It will operate under the brand concept: ‘Make leisure time valuable time’,” it added.
The name of the new LCC will be announced in mid-August, with operations due to commence at the end of December 2013. It will operate both domestic and international routes from Narita and Nagoya, with destinations likely to include AirAsia Japan’s routes to Sapporo,
Okinawa, Fukuoka and Seoul. It will initially operate a fleet of two Airbus A320 aircraft, before expanding to five aircraft by the end of March 2014. The new airline will operate in tandem with ANA’s existing Osaka-based LCC, Peach, which launched in March 2012 – five months before AirAsia Japan.
In addition, ANA has revealed plans to order three new Boeing 777-300ERs for its long-haul fleet.
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