Jetstar Japan
Jetstar Japan Co., Ltd. is a low-fare Japanese airline based in Narita. Initially planned to commence flights in late 2012, it launched ahead of schedule on 3 July 2012. The airline serves 14 destinations, 11 domestic and 3 international, using a fleet of 25 Airbus A320 aircraft.
The airline plans to expand its initial fleet of Airbus A320 aircraft to a total of 24 within the first few years of operation. Jetstar Japan competes against Peach Aviation in the domestic low-cost market.
Corporate structure
The head office of Jetstar Japan is in Narita, Chiba Prefecture. It is owned by Qantas, Japan Airlines, Mitsubishi Corporation, and Century Tokyo Leasing Corporation. Total capitalisation committed to the new airline is up to ¥12 billion.In November 2013, Qantas and Japan Airlines each injected ¥5.5 billion of fresh capital in the form of non-voting shares. This kept the ownership structure the same however both Qantas and Japan Airlines economic interest in Jetstar Japan rose to 45.7% each.
In November 2014, Qantas and Japan Airlines each agreed to inject a further ¥5.5 billion of fresh capital in the form of non-voting shares. This capital injection was to be undertaken in two tranches and was the second re-capitalisation in under a year. The issuance of non-voting shares kept the ownership structure the same however both Qantas and Japan Airlines economic interest in Jetstar Japan rose to 47.1% each. The first tranche totaling ¥7 billion was injected in November 2014 with the second tranche of ¥4 billion paid in July 2015.
In August 2015, at the announcement of Qantas Airways annual results, it was revealed that further capital injections would take place into Jetstar Japan totaling ¥10 billion. No dates were announced for when the capital would be injected although it will be done in two tranches with the first consisting of ¥7 billion and the second of ¥3 billion.
Financial performance
For the year ending 30 June 2013 Jetstar Japan earned total revenue of JPY 12.8 billion and made a loss of JPY 8.8 billion.For the year ending 30 June 2014 Jetstar Japan's total revenue increased to JPY 29.1 billion but its loss also increased to JPY 11.1 billion.
For the September Quarter of 2014, Japan's MLITT Domestic market statistics reported that Jetstar Japan had total revenue earned from the domestic market of JPY10,123 million, up 44.1% from the September 2013 quarter. Revenue per passenger was JPY9,000 up 4.7%, Passenger revenue per RPK was JPY8.7 up 8.7% and passenger numbers were 1.1 million which was up 37.2%.
For the December Quarter of 2014, Japan's MLITT Domestic market statistics reported that Jetstar Japan had total revenue earned from the domestic market of JPY7,818 million, up 46.2% from the December 2013 quarter. Revenue per passenger was JPY7,600 up 10.1%, Passenger revenue per RPK was JPY7.6 up 15.2% and passenger numbers were 1 million which was up 31.2%.
For the March Quarter of 2015, Japan's MLITT Domestic market statistics reported that Jetstar Japan had total revenue earned from the domestic market of JPY8,982 million, up 69.3% from the March 2014 quarter. Revenue per passenger was JPY7,600 up 20.6%, Passenger revenue per RPK was JPY7.6 up 24.6% and passenger numbers were 1.2 million which was up 39.3%.
For the June Quarter of 2015, Japan's MLITT Domestic market statistics reported that Jetstar Japan had total revenue earned from the domestic market of JPY8,005 million, up 40.1% from the June 2014 quarter. Revenue per passenger was JPY6,800 up 3.4%, Passenger revenue per RPK was JPY6.5 up 0.9% and passenger numbers were 1.2 million which was up 35.5%.
This means that for the year ended 30 June 2015 the total domestic revenue of Jetstar Japan was JPY34.928 billion. This revenue number does not include revenue from International services nor from any additional charges.
History
On 6 April 2012 the airline was granted an Air operator's certificate by the Japanese MLIT, in preparation for the launch of services in July 2012.Jetstar Japan announced that it would commence operations on 3 July 2012 using Narita Airport as a hub. The first route to be served was between Tokyo and Fukuoka, while services between Tokyo and Sapporo, Okinawa, and Osaka began on 9 July 2012, with services from Osaka to Fukuoka and Sapporo shortly after on 24 August 2012.
The airline also announced that it would establish Kansai International Airport in Osaka as a second hub, and started service from Osaka to Okinawa on 28 October 2012. The Kansai hub was originally planned to open on 18 July 2013, but the opening has been postponed due to issues in improving maintenance procedures following a warning from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. CEO Miyuki Suzuki told the Nihon Keizai Shimbun in July 2013 that Jetstar Japan was focused on the domestic market from Narita for the foreseeable future, and would try to optimize its schedule for connecting traffic to and from Jetstar international flights. Suzuki stated in August 2013 that Jetstar Japan hoped to decide the timing of the Kansai hub opening within 2014.
While waiting for approval of the Osaka base, Jetstar Japan opened a number of additional domestic routes from both Tokyo Narita Airport and Nagoya Chubu Airport. On 31 March 2013 Jetstar launched service from Tokyo Narita Airport to Oita and Kagoshima while, on the same day, also adding 3 routes from Nagoya Chubu Airport with service between Nagoya and Fukuoka, Sapporo and Kagoshima also started. On the same day as the Nagoya to Kagoshima service commenced,, Jetstar Japan also added daily service to Tokyo Narita Airport while on 11 June 2013 Matsuyama became Jetstar Japan's ninth destination with service connecting the city to Tokyo Narita Airport commenced. On 10 December 2013 Jetstar Japan launched twice daily service between Tokyo Narita Airport and Takamatsu.
The Osaka base was opened in June 2014 with frequencies increased on existing routes to Fukuoka, Sapporo, Okinawa and Tokyo. No new routes were added to the base at that time however Jetstar Japan announced on 16 July 2014 the addition of daily service to Oita from 9 October 2014 and announced further expansion on 20 August 2014 with the addition of twice daily Kumamoto service from 26 October 2014. Twice daily service to Kumamoto will also commence from both Nagoya Chubu and Tokyo Narita International Airport on the same date.
At the same time as the Kansai International Airport base was opened in June 2014, CEO Miyuki Suzuki confirmed that deliveries of the airline's remaining A320s on order would be slowed down and spread throughout the next fiscal year. She also stated Jetstar Japan plans to commence International operations in Winter 2014/15 with initial destinations within a 4 to 5 hour radius of Tokyo Narita Airport.
Unlike the two low-cost carriers affiliated with All Nippon Airways, Jetstar Japan has codesharing and frequent flyer mileage partnerships with its parent, Japan Airlines. Jetstar Japan has connecting traffic to and from Jetstar international flights, and JAL international passengers can also connect on Jetstar flights.
From October 2014, Jetstar Japan also entered into a codeshare arrangement with American Airlines which will see American place their AA code on Jetstar Japan flights from Tokyo Narita International Airport to Fukuoka, Matsuyama, Okinawa, Osaka and Sapporo.
From mid January 2015, Qantas has announced that it will enter into a codeshare arrangement with Jetstar Japan which will see Qantas place its QF code on Jetstar Japan flights from Tokyo Narita International Airport to Sapporo, Fukuoka, Oita, Okinawa, Osaka, Takamatsu, Matsuyama, Kumamoto and Kagoshima.
On 3 December 2014 Jetstar Japan announced the long delayed commencement of International service with its first service to connect Kansai International Airport with Hong Kong International Airport. Initially the service will operate 3 times per week with additional frequencies being added over time. On 16 March 2015 it was announced that services to Hong Kong would increase with the route operating 5 weekly from 18 July 2015 to 31 August 2015 and 4 weekly from 1 September 2015 to 24 October 2015.
On 21 January 2015 Jetstar Japan announced a new daily service between Nagoya Chubu and Okinawa Naha Airport would commence from 29 March 2015. However overall services from Nagoya Chubu will remain the same with this new service replacing one of the 2 daily Kumamoto services. This reduces total daily departures from Kumamoto from 6 to 5.
On 1 April 2015 it was announced that CEO Miyuki Suzuki had decided to resign with Jetstar Group Executive Gerry Turner to take her place as CEO. Masaru Kataoka was also to take up the role of Chairman.
On 7 April 2015 Jetstar Japan announced the first international service from Tokyo with the commencement of service between Tokyo Narita International Airport and Hong Kong International Airport with an initial 3 weekly flights commencing from 1 June 2015 building to daily service from 1 September.
On 19 August 2015 it was announced that services between Nagoya Chubu and Kumamoto along with the daily service between Kansai International Airport and Oita would be discontinued from 25 October 2015 which is the beginning of the Winter timetable.
While rumours had persisted for some time beforehand, it was finally announced on 13 October 2015 that service to Taipei would commence from Tokyo Narita Airport, Kansai International Airport and Nagoya Chubu. Initially services will be 3 times per week however before the end of 2015 all 3 cities will see daily service to Taipei.
In the first major announcements of 2016, on 15 January it was announced that services between Kansai International Airport and Kumamoto would be discontinued from 27 March 2016 which is the beginning of the Summer timetable while on 21 January it was announced that new service linking Tokyo Narita International Airport, Osaka Kansai International Airport and Nagoya Chubu Airports with Manila Ninoy Aquino International Airport would be inaugurated from mid March. Manila becomes the third International destination for Jetstar Japan while the airline is also the first Japanese LCC to serve Manila.
On 1 July 2016 Jetstar Japan cancelled Osaka Kansai International Airport to Manila Ninoy Aquino International Airport, while suspending Nagoya and Tokyo Narita International Airport to Manila Ninoy Aquino International Airport until 1 September 2016.
On 9 August 2016 Jetstar Japan gained approval from Chinas CAAC to serve 4 routes between Japan and China from both Tokyo and Osaka. From both Tokyo and Osaka Jetstar Japan has been approved to serve Shanghai and Guangzhou.
On 23 August Jetstar Japan was confirmed as having made its maiden profit and also announced plans to grow its fleet from the current 20 aircraft to 28 over the next 3 years.
On 30 November 2018 Jetstar Japan placed an order for 3 Airbus A321LR for delivery from 2020.
Destinations
flies to 19 destinations in the Asia Pacific region. It mostly operates domestic flights within Japan but also operates flights to China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the Philippines.Codeshare agreements
Jetstar Japan has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:- American Airlines
- Japan Airlines
- Qantas
Fleet
| Aircraft | In Service | Orders | Passengers | Notes |
| Airbus A320-200 | 25 | — | 180 | |
| Airbus A321LR | — | 3 | TBA | Deliveries from 2020 |
| Total | 25 | 3 | — |
Jetstar Japan began operations with three aircraft and up to October 2013 was adding a new aircraft every 4–6 weeks. However, due to delays in opening the second base at Osaka Kansai Airport along with restrictions imposed on the company by Japanese authorities, the company paused its fleet expansion at eighteen aircraft. Fleet expansion restarted in October 2014 with two new A320s delivered prior to the end of that year.