Japan's first low-cost carrier aims to provide unique cultural service

JAPAN's first low-cost carrier (LCC) Peach Aviation Limited started operation on Thursday, aiming at providing service styled as "cute and cool", reflecting the latest Japanese cultural quality, Shinichi Inoue, Chief Executive Officer of the airline said in an interview with China's Xinhua news agency.

The first flight of the airline, based at Kansai International Airport in Osaka Prefecture, took off from the airport on Thursday morning for New Chitose airport near Sapporo in Hokkaido Prefecture.

The carrier will operate three round-trip flights on the route and four round-trip flights connecting the Kansai airport and the southwestern Japanese city of Fukuoka each day, using several Airbus A320 (180 seats) jetliners (pic).

Prices for one-way tickets on the Kansai-Sapporo route range from 4,780 yen (about US$59) to 14,780 yen (about US$183), compared with the tickets from 11,800 yen (about US$46) to 41,300 yen (about US$510) offered by major Japanese airlines.

"We must first guarantee 'safe travel' and 'cheap fare' to let passengers enjoy our unique service with its unique design based on the colours, 'pink and purple', featuring Japanese hospitality," Inoue told Xinhua.

Inoue said his company plans to expand international flying routes to Seoul (Incheon) in May, Hong Kong and Taipei (Taoyuan) beyond July, after opening more domestic routes to Nagasaki and Kagoshima by April.

The company will gradually add international destinations across Asia including many Chinese cities to become an Asia's leading regional airline Inoue said , noting that the new carrier will only focus on short-haul flights of up to four hours from Kansai airport.

He noted that flying from Osaka means cutting one hour off Japan-Asia travel time, compared with flights serving from Tokyo, stressing Kansai as the advantageous location to compete with other low cost operators.

Inoue pointed out that his airline's ultimate goal is to become a cultural bridge between Asian peoples and the platform to reactivate local economies.

Bernama