JAL Express was established on April 1, 1997 as a wholly owned domestic subsidiary airline of Japan Airlines, with initial capital of ¥5.8 million. It operated scheduled passenger services to regional domestic destinations in Japan, as well as some low-demand flights for JAL under wet-lease agreement. It was also considered for services on the domestic trunk and short-haul international routes. On July 1, 1998, JAL Express commenced operations from Osaka to Miyazaki and Kagoshima with two Boeing 737-400s, non-Japanese cockpit crew, and short-term contracted cabin attendants. The airline's cabin attendants, called Sky Cast, were responsible for cleaning the 150-seat cabin between flights. The airline celebrated its one millionth passenger in June 2000 and commenced wet-lease operation for its parent JAL in December 2000. On 14 November 2002, JAL introduced a new aircraft livery design, "The Arc of the Sun", across the JAL Group fleet. A reception to celebrate the completion of the first aircraft with the new design was held at the JAS M2 hangar. In April 2005, the McDonnell Douglas MD-81 was introduced to the airline fleet, with an all Economy Class configuration with 163 seats. JAL Express became an affiliate member of Oneworld on April 1, 2007, together with four of its sister airlines, in the alliance's biggest expansion in its young history. On the same day, the airline celebrated its tenth anniversary of establishment. JAL Express welcomed the arrival of the new Boeing 737-800 to its fleet in January 2008 and celebrated the tenth anniversary of its first flight in July 2008. It operated its first international flight in May 2009 under a wet-lease agreement with JAL. On July 9, 2010, JAL Express pilot Ari Fuji became its first female airline flight captain. As of March 27, 2011, all of JAL Express flights were been operated as JAL flights, until the full merger of the two carriers in September 2014.
Destinations
JAL Express operated to the following destinations:
Cold beverages, hot beverages, JAL Original candy, and sugar candy were available on JAL Express flights. Passengers traveling in Class J could enjoy JAL Class Jin-flight catering services. From March 27, 2011, passengers traveling in all classes could enjoy in-flight catering services on all flights.
In-flight entertainment
JAL Group's in-flight magazine, Skyward, JAL Express's in-flight magazine JEX Letter, and in-flight shopping magazine JALSHOP were available on board. No newspaper or audio or video programs were available. Class J passengers could enjoy JAL Class J in-flight entertainment services where available. After March 27, 2011, passengers in all classes could enjoy in-flight entertainment services on all of flights.
