StarFlyer

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StarFlyer スターフライヤー
IATA 7G	ICAO SFJ	Callsign Star Flyer
Founded		2002
Hubs		New Kitakyushu Airport
Fleet size		3
Destinations		2
Parent company		Star Flyer Inc.
Headquarters		Kitakyushu, Japan
Key people		Takaaki Hori (President)
Website: http://www.starflyer.jp

StarFlyer Inc. (株式会社スターフライヤー, Kabushiki-gaisha Sutāfuraiyā^?) is an airline based in Kitakyushu, Japan. It is modeled after JetBlue Airways as a "low-cost, high-quality" carrier aimed at business and leisure travelers. It began operations on March 16, 2006.

1 History
- 1.1 Major Shareholders
2 Fleet
3 Livery
4 External links
5 References

[edit] History

StarFlyer was founded as Kobe Airlines (神戸航空, Kōbe Kōkū^?) on December 17, 2002 with the intention of being based at the new Kobe Airport. The company changed its name to StarFlyer in May of 2003, and moved to Kitakyushu at the end of 2003.

StarFlyer Airbus A320-200, City of Kitakyushu at Oita airport, December 2005

StarFlyer was supported by local companies to provide a regular service initially from the New Kitakyushu Airport to Tokyo International Airport (Haneda, HND) twelve times a day, including late evening and early morning flights to allow day returns for business trips and sightseeing. Once the Kitakyushu-Tokyo route is well established the airline plans to open routes to Shanghai, Beijing, and Seoul from Kitakyushu.

On August 17, 2005, StarFlyer announced a business agreement with All Nippon Airways, providing ANA support services for most StarFlyer aircraft and crews.

A booking centre opened in Kokura on January 16, 2006. Seats for the first available flights sold out in five minutes confirming the popularity of the new venture especially among business travellers. Kitakyushu City is also requiring its employees to use the airline for all business trips to and from Tokyo.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Major Shareholders

Toto Corporation
Daiichi Kotsu Sangyo
Nippon Steel Corp.
Yasukawa Electric Corp.
Zenrin
Bank of Yamaguchi

Established on December 17, 2002. Starting capital: 1,822 million yen (as of May 2005), planned to increase to 3 billion yen by end 2005.

The President is Takaaki Hori. The first president was the late Osako Shinobu, 1945-2005, former president of Zenrin and a driving force behind the New Kitakyushu Airport and the persuading of Isetan to come to Kokura in place of the failed Sogo Department Store.

[edit] Fleet

As of August 2006 the StarFlyer fleet includes ^[1] :

3 Airbus A320-200 (plus 1 on order)

The first StarFlyer aircraft, City of Kitakyushu, arrived from Toulouse at the Tokyo International Airport on December 15, 2005. It was also the first aircraft to land at the New Kitakyushu Airport on February 8, 2006.^{[citation needed]}

Although the A320 usually accommodates 170 passengers in one-class layout, StarFlyer's aircraft are fitted with only 144 seats for greater passenger legroom and comfort. Each passenger has a personal LCD monitor offering in-flight television, as well as powerports for notebook computers. StarFlyer plans to offer in-flight Internet service in the future.^{[citation needed]}