StarFlyer
StarFlyer Inc. is a Japanese airline headquartered on the grounds of Kitakyushu Airport in Kokuraminami-ku, Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka Prefecture. It describes itself as a "hybrid airline" providing a higher level of service than low-cost carriers while having operating costs lower than full-service legacy carriers. Although the airlines IATA code is 7G, domestically it has also used the code MQ for its flights.
History
StarFlyer was founded as Kobe Airlines on December 17, 2002 with the intention of being based at the new Kobe Airport. The company changed its name to StarFlyer in May 2003, and moved to Kitakyushu at the end of 2003. The airline was founded by former Japan Airlines technician Takaaki Hori and former All Nippon Airways executive Yasushi Muto, who respectively served as president and senior vice president of the company until 2009. Its headquarters were initially in the Shin Kokura Building in Kokura Kita-ku, Kitakyūshū; in 2010 the airline announced that the headquarters would move to Kitakyushu Airport.StarFlyer began service upon the opening of New Kitakyushu Airport on March 16, 2006.
All Nippon Airways began an operational relationship with StarFlyer in 2005, allowing StarFlyer to use its computerized reservations system. This relationship expanded to code sharing in 2007, under which StarFlyer service between Haneda and Kitakyushu was marketed under ANA's airline code. The code sharing immediately boosted StarFlyer's load factors from 59% to over 70%.
In April 2008 the company announced that it would begin charter flights to Seoul in July. The airline said it would evaluate the flights to consider whether to start regular service between the two cities. In addition, it has also prepared to start charter service to Hong Kong. StarFlyer operated packaged tour charter flights from Kitakyushu to Guam in August 2013 with an aim to provide more "program charter" services in the future.
StarFlyer initially planned an IPO in fiscal year 2008, but poor financial and operating performance delayed the IPO; among other issues, the airline failed to use appropriate fuel hedging to control its costs, and also had limited ability to raise capital. Hori and Muto resigned from their positions in June 2009, and Shinichi Yonehara, a former Mitsui & Co. aircraft trading executive, became president of the company. Under Yonehara's leadership, the airline completed its IPO on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in December 2011.
The airline suffered a massive cancellation following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, as 13 of its 29 pilots at the time were non-Japanese, and seven of them were overseas and had refused to return to Japan.
In December 2012, ANA announced that it had acquired an 18% stake in StarFlyer, making it the largest shareholder in the airline.
In 2013, StarFlyer announced that it would start service between Fukuoka and Kansai International Airport in Osaka, targeting business travelers on a highly competitive city pair where the Sanyo Shinkansen high-speed rail service has a market share of around 80%. StarFlyer announced that it would offer discount fares starting at 4,500 yen to compete with both rail service and the discount airline Peach.
StarFlyer announced a restructuring in November 2013, as part of which it would cut 30 of its employees, suspend its service to Busan effective 30 March 2014, and reduce its fleet from eleven to nine aircraft. StarFlyer was also considering raising fares on its key domestic routes from Haneda to Kitakyushu and Fukuoka.
Corporate relationships
, ANA Holdings is the largest shareholder in the company with a 17.96% stake, and several companies that have major operations in the northern Kyushu region are also significant shareholders, including TOTO, Yaskawa Electric Corporation, Kyushu Electric Power Company and Nissan Motor Company.Kitakyushu Bank has a credit card mileage partnership with StarFlyer. Yamaguchi Financial Group, the parent company of Kitakyushu Bank, made publicized efforts to support StarFlyer's Busan service by approaching businesses, tourism organizations and Japanese expatriate groups in the Busan region.
StarFlyer provides ground handling services for Delta Air Lines at Haneda Airport in Tokyo.
Destinations
StarFlyer serves the following destinations :| Country | City | Province/Region | Airport | Notes | Refs |
| Japan | Fukuoka | Kyūshū | Fukuoka Airport | ||
| Japan | Kitakyūshū | Kyūshū | Kitakyushu Airport | ||
| Japan | Nagoya | Honshu | Chūbu Centrair International Airport | ||
| Japan | Naha | Ryukyu Islands | Naha Airport | ||
| Japan | Osaka | Honshu | Kansai International Airport | ||
| Japan | Tokyo | Honshu | Haneda Airport | ||
| Japan | Ube | Honshu | Yamaguchi Ube Airport | ||
| South Korea | Busan | Busan Metropolitan City | Gimhae International Airport | ||
| South Korea | Seoul | Seoul Capital Area | Incheon International Airport | ||
| Taiwan | Taipei | Taoyuan | Taoyuan International Airport |
StarFlyer plans to resume international service in October 2018 with daily flights from Nagoya and Kitakyushu to Taipei.
Fleet
The StarFlyer fleet consists of the following aircraft :| Aircraft | In Fleet | Passengers | Notes |
| Airbus A320-200 | 13 | 150 | 5 fitted with winglets |
Most of the Star Flyer A320 fleet is leased from GECAS and AWAS, but the airline purchased three A320s to replace older leased aircraft; JA01MC was retired on April 30, 2014 to bring its fleet to a total of ten aircraft, of which 5 aircraft will be leased in the future.
StarFlyer's 9 Airbus A320-200 aircraft are equipped with either 144 or 150 passenger seats in an all economy class cabin layout. Each passenger has a personal LCD monitor offering in-flight television, as well as powerports for notebook computers. StarFlyer plans to offer in-flight Internet service in the future. Japan Airlines is the other Japanese airline that also offers wi-fi service. In November 2015, StarFlyer confirmed 6 more A320 and 5 A321 to bring the airline fleet to 20 aircraft. They have also add 5 options for the A321 to bring the aircraft to 25. As of October 2017, StarFlyer plans to operate a 12-aircraft fleet by June 2018, and a 15-aircraft fleet by end of 2019.