Japan Airlines to set up low-cost carrier, targeting Asian demand

JAL is launching a low-cost carrier offering medium to long-haul flights, aiming to tap growing Asian demand for budget air travel. The new airline will be based at Narita International Airport and will offer flights to Asia, Europe and the Americas, JAL said Monday. The as-yet unnamed airline plans to start flying in the summer of 2020 with two wide-body Boeing 787-8 aircraft. JAL will invest 10b to 20b yen ($91.44m to $182.88m) in the business, with the aim of reaching profitability within three years from the launch, the company said. Budget flights have been slow to take off in Japan, which is dominated by full-service carriers JAL and ANA and has a sophisticated high-speed rail network, but with growing numbers of Asia travellers taking to the air the two Japanese airlines are looking to expand their low-cost offerings. “Full-service airlines typically have high costs, but in Japan this is especially so,” said Will Horton, senior analyst at research consultancy CAPA Center for Aviation. “Japan needs new platforms to capture foreign visitors. They are not like the Japanese who are sticky in wanting to fly a costly Japanese full-service airline.” The new long-distance carrier is a totally different proposition from Jetstar Japan, which “is purely short-distance”, JAL’s new President Yuji Akasaka said. Jetstar Japan has given its approval for the move, the president said.<br/>