ANA on track to start low-cost Southeast Asia flights in February

Japan's ANA Holdings is on track to launch low-cost flights to Southeast Asia in its new AirJapan carriers in February 2024. "We plan to first launch flights to Southeast Asia," AirJapan CEO Hideki Mineguchi told reporters on Thursday. He said the flights will serve routes "where there is strong demand" but declined to give concrete information, saying details are to be finalized by this summer. Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia were the top three countries in Southeast Asia to send travelers to Japan in 2019. "We are committed to yielding profit in fiscal 2025," Mineguchi said. The new flights will depart from Narita International Airport near Tokyo. In the long run, the company aims to expand routes and offer flights from Southeast Asia to Kansai International Airport in Japan's Osaka prefecture in the west. "We want to cater to inbound tourism demand ahead of the Expo 2025 Osaka," said Mineguchi. "Our brand targets inbound travelers," he said, adding that the company will focus its marketing activities overseas. The global tourism industry is recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. While business travel recovery is still uncertain due to the worldwide shift to working from home, inbound tourism is expected to increase substantially under government initiatives to attract visitors. The Japan National Tourism Organization said around 1.5m tourists visited in January, up over 8,300% from a year earlier, although that figure was still 44% lower than the pre-pandemic level in January 2019. Challenges remain over how to compete with other budget airlines. One way it is differentiating itself is by offering 32-inch (81 centimeters) seat pitches, which is about 1-2 inches wider than usual.<br/>