Peach Aviation


Peach, officially Peach Aviation, is a budget airline based in Japan. Its head office is on the fifth floor of Kensetsu-to on the property of Kansai International Airport in Izumisano, Osaka Prefecture. Peach has hubs at Kansai and at Naha Airport on Okinawa Island.

History

Peach was formed in February 2011 as A&F Aviation, a joint venture between All Nippon Airways and the First Eastern Investment Group, a Hong Kong-based private equity and venture capital firm. The company applied for an operating certificate in April 2011 and changed its name to Peach Aviation in May 2011. Its shares were held in almost equal portions by ANA, FEIG, and the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan, ANA holding a slightly larger share of the three. ANA controls 77.9% of Peach's stock as of 2018.
Peach's brand development was conducted by CIA, Inc. / The Brand Architect Group who engaged Neil Denari for aircraft livery design and James Wilkie for uniform design. The airline is based at Kansai International Airport. In July 2011, Peach received 1,909 applications for its first class of ninety flight attendants.
At one time, its headquarters were located on the third floor of Aeroplaza, located on the property of Kansai International Airport in Tajiri, Sennan District, Osaka Prefecture. On 1 August 2011, Peach announced that it was moving its operations office from Aeroplaza to Kensetsu-to.
Peach's first Airbus A320 was delivered to its home base at Kansai International Airport in November 2011. Peach has two named aircraft. Its first A320 was named Peach Dream; its tenth A320 was named Wing of Tohoku following a contest in which sixty elementary school students from the Tohoku region submitted proposals. The airline's first flight was on 1 March 2012, between Kansai and New Chitose Airport, which serves the Sapporo metropolitan area.
Peach was the most successful of the three new Japanese low-cost carriers during their first year of operations, with average load factors around 80 percent versus 70 percent for Jetstar Japan and 50 to 60 percent for AirAsia Japan. Peach's 24-hour operations and exclusive terminal at Kansai Airport were credited for its relative success, as well as its stronger focus on certain passenger experience factors such as its reservations and check-in systems.
Peach cancelled over 2,000 planned flights for the summer 2014 season due to a shortage of pilots. The airline planned to have 62 pilots by October 2014 but only had 52 as of April, eight of whom were sick or injured and unable to fly. Loss of pilots to other airlines was a cause for the shortage. It was later reported that Peach would consider allowing its pilots to commute from Haneda Airport to Kansai Airport on other airlines, a practice rarely allowed in Japan, in order to attract candidates who are unwilling to relocate to Osaka.
In May 2017, Peach become the first airline in Japan to accept bitcoin as payment.
On 22 March 2018, All Nippon Airways announced the integration of its two low cost carrier subsidiaries Peach Aviation and Vanilla Air, starting in the second half of the FY2018 and to be completed by the end of FY2019 into Peach, planning over 50 aircraft beyond FY2020, up from 35 today, operating on more than 50 routes, up from 39 currently, and targeting a ¥150 billion revenue and a 10% operating profit for FY2020.

Destinations

Peach offers service to the following destinations:
Country or RegionCityAirportNotesRefs
Hong KongHong KongHong Kong International Airport
People's Republic of ChinaShanghaiShanghai Pudong International Airport
JapanAmamiAmami Airport
JapanFukuokaFukuoka Airport
JapanIshigakiNew Ishigaki Airport
JapanKagoshimaKagoshima Airport
JapanMatsuyamaMatsuyama Airport
JapanMiyazakiMiyazaki Airport
JapanNagasakiNagasaki Airport
JapanNahaNaha Airport
JapanOsakaKansai International Airport
JapanSapporoNew Chitose Airport
JapanSendaiSendai Airport
JapanTokyoHaneda Airport
JapanTokyoNarita International Airport
South KoreaBusanGimhae International Airport
South KoreaSeoulIncheon International Airport
TaiwanKaohsiungKaohsiung International Airport
TaiwanTaipeiTaoyuan International Airport
ThailandBangkokSuvarnabhumi Airport

Fleet

, the Peach fleet consists of the following Airbus aircraft:

Livery

The livery of Peach consists of a pink, purple and white colour scheme. The fuselage and vertical stabilizer is painted in pink and purple except for the front fuselage, which is painted in white. The brand name 'Peach' is painted on the vertical stabilizer and the front fuselage. Both wingtips are painted in pink.

Accidents and incidents