AirAsia Japan

AirAsia Japan was the name of two incarnations of a Japanese low-cost airline, which had operated as a joint venture between the Malaysian AirAsia and Japanese partners.

AirAsia Japan's first incarnation was founded in July 2011, and was based at Tokyo's Narita International Airport until the airline ceased operations during October 2013, rebranding as Vanilla Air. AirAsia Japan's second incarnation was founded in July 2014, with its base of operations at Nagoya's Chubu Centrair International Airport. On 5 October 2020, the airline ceased operations due to low passenger demand caused by impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

History

Tony Fernandes, the director and chief executive officer (CEO) of AirAsia, dubbed the two incarnations of AirAsia Japan as "Part 1" and "Part 2".[2]

Part 1: All Nippon Airways joint venture (2012–2013)

Part 2: Re-entering the Japanese market (2014–2020)

On 1 July 2014, it was announced that AirAsia had 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.[2] AirAsia was to hold the remaining 49% stake.[13] Its initial capital consisted of JPY7 billion (US$69 million), with Yoshinori Odagiri, CEO from the previous incarnation of AirAsia Japan, returning as chairman. The airline was expected to commence operations in summer 2015, with two Airbus A320 aircraft and its new hub at Nagoya's Chubu Centrair International Airport. Plans also included the fleet expansion from two Airbus A320 aircraft to four by the end of 2015.[14][15][13] On 6 October 2015, it was announced that AirAsia Japan received its air operating license to start operating flights, while also announcing Sendai, Sapporo, and Taipei, Taiwan as the airline's first three destinations from Nagoya Centrair.[16]

After several delays, AirAsia Japan relaunched on 29 October 2017, with its first flight from Nagoya Centrair to Sapporo.[17][18] By August 2019, the airline had officially launched services from Nagoya Centrair to Sendai and Taipei.[19][20] In January 2020, the airline announced a new service between Nagoya Centrair and Fukuoka to begin the following month,[21] however due to the airline's temporary suspension of operations starting in March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, the new service did not begin until some of its regular domestic operations resumed on 1 August 2020.[22]

End of operation (2020)

Following AirAsia Japan's resumption of service in August 2020, the airline by mid-September 2020 had again suspended its flights amidst low passenger numbers, with AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes further adding that the viability of AirAsia Japan's business would be reviewed.[23][24][25] The airline's closure was approved on 30 September 2020,[26] with the formal announcement made on 5 October 2020.[27][28] Before the shutdown, AirAsia Japan's employees were invited to apply for voluntary retirement, but these and other steps failed to solve the carrier's financial problems. On 17 November 2020, AirAsia Japan filed for bankruptcy proceedings in the Tokyo District Court, and was the first Japanese airline to cease operation following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

airline	AirAsia Japan Co., Ltd エアアジア・ジャパン株式会社
iata	DJ
icao	WAJ
callsign	WING ASIA
parent	AirAsia
founded	Part 1: July 1, 2011 Part 2: July 1, 2014
commenced	Part 1: August 1, 2012 Part 2: October 29, 2017
ceased	Part 1: October 26, 2013 (re-branded as Vanilla Air) Part 2: October 5, 2020
headquarters	Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
key people	Tony Fernandes Hiroshi Mikitani
bases	Nagoya–Centrair (2014–2020) Tokyo–Narita (2011–2013)
frequent flyer	BIG
operating income	JPY −3.3 billion (FY June 2013) ‡R1R‡
website	www.airasia.com

History

Part 1: All Nippon Airways joint venture (2012–2013)

Joint venture termination and rebranding (2013)

Joint venture termination and rebranding (2013)

Part 2: Re-entering the Japanese market (2014–2020)

End of operation (2020)

End of operation (2020)

Destinations

Fleet

Previously operated

Frequent-flyer program

See also

External links

References