AirAsia Japan

This article is about the company established in 2014. For the former Japanese joint venture, see Vanilla Air.
AirAsia Japan
IATA ICAO Callsign
DJ WAJ
Founded Part 1: August 2011
Part 2: 1 July 2014
Commenced operations Part 1: 1 August 2012
Part 2: Spring 2016
Ceased operations Part 1: 27 October 2013 (to Vanilla Air)
Frequent-flyer program BIG[1]
Fleet size 5
Headquarters Nagoya, Japan
Key people Tony Fernandes
Hiroshi Mikitani
Operating income JPY -3.3 billion (FY June 2013)[2]
Website www.airasia.com/jp
AirAsia Japan Airbus A320-200 New Chitose Airport, 1 November 2012

AirAsia Japan Co., Ltd (エアアジア・ジャパン株式会社 Eāajia Japan Kabushiki-Gaisha) is the name of two incarnations of Japanese low-cost airline, operating as a joint venture between AirAsia of Malaysia and Japanese partners.

The first incarnation of AirAsia Japan, which operated from August 2012 to October 2013, was a joint venture between AirAsia and All Nippon Airways (ANA), at the time being the fifth subsidiary of AirAsia and the ninth of ANA. Its headquarters was in Shiodome City Center in Minato, Tokyo.[3] AirAsia withdrew from the joint venture in 2013, and the airline was rebranded as Vanilla Air under the full ownership of ANA.[4]

The second incarnation of AirAsia Japan, announced on 1 July 2014, saw AirAsia partnered with Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten, the sporting goods company Alpen and other partners, to relaunch AirAsia Japan.

History

The director of AirAsia Tony Fernandes dubbed the two incarnations of AirAsia Japan as "Part 1" and "Part 2".[5]

"Part 1": Joint-venture with All Nippon Airways (August 2012-October 2013)

Malaysian low-cost airline AirAsia and Japanese network airline All Nippon Airways announced their joint venture at a press conference in Tokyo on 21 July 2011.[6] Following its formal establishment in August 2011,[6] the first flight for the airline was on 1 August 2012, from Tokyo Narita to Fukuoka.[7]

The airline was headquartered alongside ANA in Tokyo, with its main operating base at Narita International Airport, and initially served domestic destinations utilising the brand and service model of AirAsia.[6] Future planned international destinations included the Philippines, South Korea and Taiwan.[8][9] AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes also indicated that the joint venture hub at Narita may serve as a connecting point between Southeast Asia and the United States within the AirAsia group network.[10]

AirAsia Japan was the first low-cost airline to be based at Narita.[10] Its formation was announced only months after ANA had announced the formation of Peach, a low-cost airline based at Kansai International Airport in Osaka, and alongside a concurrent effort by Japan Airlines to set up a low-cost affiliate.[9] ANA elected to partner with an existing low-cost airline for efficiency and strategic advantage.[10]

Termination of joint venture and re-branding as Vanilla Air

In June 2013, AirAsia decided to exit its investment in AirAsia Japan, making the company a wholly owned subsidiary of ANA. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported that AirAsia Japan had the lowest load factors of the three new entrant low-cost carriers in Japan and noted several reasons for the failure of the joint venture, including an online booking system that was not fully translated into Japanese and was therefore frustrating to many domestic customers, failure to utilise travel agent distribution (which is still a major component of domestic airline sales in Japan), the inconvenience of its main hub at Narita Airport, and the airport's severe restrictions on early morning and late night flights.[11]

AirAsia Japan announced in August 2013 that it would continue operation under its current branding through 26 October 2013 and would then be rebranded as Vanilla Air effective 1 November 2013. Vanilla Air would start operations with two aircraft and expand to ten aircraft by fiscal year 2015, with both domestic and international routes.[12] All of AirAsia Japan's staff were to be inherited by Vanilla Air, and the airline would focus on serving resort destinations, eventually expanding to longer routes after an initial focus on short-haul routes.[13] AirAsia Japan aircraft were to be returned to AirAsia, with Vanilla Air to start with a fleet of only two aircraft.[14]

AirAsia announced that it would start a new joint venture operation in Japan at a later date with a different partner, but the Nikkei reported that this seemed unlikely given foreign ownership restrictions and the fact that that the only seasoned Japanese airline operators outside of the ANA group are Japan Airlines, which had already invested in the Jetstar Japan joint venture, and Skymark Airlines, which was unlikely to get involved.[15]

"Part 2": Re-entering the Japanese market

On 1 July 2014, it was announced that AirAsia has partnered with the online mall and travel agency Rakuten (to hold 18% of the stake), a Japanese cosmetics, energy drinks and aircraft leasing firm Noevir Holdings (9%), the sportswear firm Alpen (5%), and private equity firm Octave Japan (19%), to relaunch AirAsia Japan.[5] AirAsia will hold 49% of the stake.[16] Its initial is JPY7 billion (USD69 million), with Yoshinori Odagiri, CEO from the previous incarnation of AirAsia Japan, returns to chair. The airline is expected to commerce operation in summer 2015,[17] from a hub at Chūbu Centrair International Airport[18] with 2 Airbus A320 planes, expanding to 4 by the end of 2015.[16] On 6 October 2015, it was announced that AirAsia Japan has received their air operating license to start operating flights, as well as announcing Sendai, Sapporo, and Taipei, Taiwan as their first three destinations from Chubu Centrair International Airport.[19] Flights will begin in Spring 2016.[19]

Destinations

 Japan

Former destinations

East Asia

 Japan
 Republic of Korea
 Taiwan

Former fleet

AirAsia Japan took delivery of its first aircraft in Toulouse, France on 9 June 2012.[20]

Aircraft Total Passengers
Airbus A320-200 5 180

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to AirAsia Japan.
  1. ↑ "Join BIG! AirAsia BIG Loyalty Programme". Airasia.com. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  2. ↑ "ジェットスター、営業赤字90億円　ＬＣＣ３社の決算出そろう". 日本経済新聞. 15 October 2013. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  3. ↑ "ANA and AirAsia to form ‘AirAsia Japan’." (Archive) All Nippon Airways. 21 July 2011. Retrieved on 1 November 2012. "Address: 1-5-2 Higashi Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo (plan)"
  4. ↑ Wall, Robert and Jasper, Christopher (19 January 2014). "AirAsia Prepares Japan Discount Airline After ANA Split". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  5. 1 2 Teppei Kasai (1 July 2014). "AirAsia and Rakuten team up for Japan budget airline". Reuters. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 "ANA Official Press Release on the establishment of AirAsia Japan". Ana.co.jp. 21 July 2011. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  7. ↑
  8. ↑ Yuri Kageyama (3 October 2012). "Low cost flying arrives in luxury loving Japan - Yahoo! News". News.yahoo.com. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  9. 1 2 "ANA, AirAsia to Launch Budget Carrier in Japan". Wall Street Journal. 22 July 2011.
  10. 1 2 3 "AirAsia-ANA tie-up likely". Thestar.com.my. 15 July 2011.
  11. ↑ "ANA、LCCを一本化　エアアジアとの合弁解消へ". 日本経済新聞. 10 June 2013.
  12. ↑ "ＬＣＣ新社名「バニラ・エア」に　エアアジア・ジャパン". 日本経済新聞. 20 August 2013. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
  13. ↑ "AirAsia Japan rebranded 'Vanilla Air'". Agence-France Presse. 20 August 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  14. ↑ "第２の拠点空港「中部を最優先」　ＬＣＣのバニラ・エア社長". 日本経済新聞. 1 October 2013. Retrieved 1 October 2013.
  15. ↑ "ＡＮＡ、ＬＣＣ合弁解消の勝算". 日本経済新聞. 8 July 2013.
  16. 1 2 Raghuvanshi, Gaurav (1 July 2014). "AirAsia Finds Partners for Return to Japan". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  17. ↑ "AirAsia Japan to make début in mid-2015". ch-aviation. 7 July 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  18. ↑ "Japanese retailer, Rakuten, to acquire stake in AirAsia Japan". ch-aviation. 30 June 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  19. 1 2 "AirAsia Japan gets operating license". Retrieved 6 October 2015.
  20. ↑ "AirAsia Japan takes delivery of its first Airbus A320 aircraft | Airbus News & Events". Airbus.com. 9 October 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
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