ANA releases Boeing 747 Kumamoto charter schedule.

All Nippon Airways (NH/ANA) has released the timetable of 'Sayonara Flight Charter' and 'Kumamoto Scenic Flight', which will take place on March 16th. These are part of the airline's 'Final 747: Thanks Jumbo!' series of events commemorating the retirement of Boeing's Jumbo Jet.

0800 Gather at Tokyo/Narita (NRT/RJAA) Terminal 1.
0800 – 0930 Photo opportunity of the Boeing 747 from the tarmac.
1005 The Boeing 747-400D will depart Narita.
1200 Arrive at Kumamoto (KMJ/RJFT).
1200 – 1320 Photo opportunity with the Boeing 747 and ANA's Flight Attendants.
1330 – 1420 A talk by Captains of the Boeing 747 and chances to win memorabilia.
1420 – 1540 Sightseeing flight on the Boeing 747 from and to Kumamoto.
1610 – 1710 The Boeing 747 will perform touch-and-go's.
1800 Depart Kumamoto.
1945 Arrive at Narita.

The tour will consist of two parts; 'Sayonara Flight Charter' is the Narita - Kumamoto round-trip part of the tour, while the 'Kumamoto Scenic Flight' is the other. Due to time constraints, passengers can only choose one part. Tickets for the former will go on sale at 1400 on January 24th, and for the latter at 1400 on January 27th.

A photo on ANA's 'Final 747: Thanks Jumbo!' website. (Image: ANA)

Meanwhile, ANA has also hinted plans to operate B747-400D charter flights to Sendai (SDJ/RJSS) and Fukushima (FKS/RJSF) in support of the ongoing rebuilding of areas devastated by the 3.11 earthquake and tsunami three years ago. Details will be announced in the coming days.

Source: All Nippon Airways (in Japanese)

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New Central Airservice receives 2nd Dornier 228NG.

On January 16th, New Central Airservice's (CUK) second Dornier Do 228NG, its fifth of the type, was delivered from Germany to the airline's maintenance base at Ryugasaki Airfield (ICAO: none) in Chiba prefecture registered as D-CJAP. It will be re-registered JA35CA.

New Central Airservice's Dornier Do 228 and destinations. (Image: CUK)

New Central Airservice will use the 19-seat aircraft to launch three-times daily Tokyo/Chofu (RJTF) - Miyakejima (MYE/RJTQ) service on April 2nd, replacing ANA Wings (EH/AKX), which at the end of March will suspend its single daily Tokyo/Haneda (HND/RJTT) - Miyakejima route currently operated with its last remaining 56-seat Bombardier DHC-8-315 (300Q) JA804K. Located approximately 180km south of Tokyo and administered by the nation's capital, Miyakejima, one of the nine inhabited Izu Islands, is home to 2,580 people. The only means of transportation from the island to Tokyo is either the 50-minute flight, or a six-hour ferry ride. These essential services are subsidized by the government of Tokyo.

The airline was the launch customer for the 'New Generation' Dornier Do 228, upgraded with a glass cockpit, five-blade propeller, and longer range. It is manufactured by Swiss technology firm RUAG. Chofu Airport, located in northwestern Tokyo, is New Central Airservice's hub for its scheduled commuter flights to the Izu Islands. With its fleet of Dornier Do 228s, they currently operate to Kouzushima (RJAZ), Niijima (RJAN), and Oshima (OIM/RJTO).

Haneda to have limited-time daytime international charters.

The Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) will reportedly allow nine slots at heavily-regulated Tokyo/Haneda (HND/RJTT) for international charter flights during its 0600 - 2300 daytime hours for a limited period from March 30th to October 25th.

March 30th will see Haneda's daytime international landing and takeoff slots increase by 30,000 per year, or 40 flights a day, and will accommodate long-range flights during these hours for the first time since Tokyo/Narita (NRT/RJAA) opened in 1978. 31 slots have already been allocated for services to and from Canada, China, France, Germany, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, U.K., and Vietnam. The remaining nine slots are for U.S. flights, however, the authorities of Japan and the U.S. have so far been unable to reach an agreement regarding which side gets how many. The JCAB has decided to offer these yet-to-be-distributed slots for charter operations.

Airlines will be able to apply for these charter slots from February.

Source: Nikkei Shimbun (in Japanese)

Peach launches Kaohsiung.

Today on January 18th, Peach Aviation (MM/APJ) inaugurated service to Kaohsiung (KHH/RCKH) from Osaka/Kansai (KIX/RJBB). Flown by Airbus A320-214 JA805P, adorned with a decal of Japanese pop idol Mariko Shinoda and dubbed 'Mariko Jet', flight MM35 departed Kansai at 1145 with 139 passengers and arrived at Kaohsiung at 1429 local time. 148 passengers were on board the return flight back to Kansai.

The timetable is as follows:
MM035 KIX 1150 - 1420 KHH 320 Daily
MM036 KHH 1455 - 1835 KIX 320 Daily

Airbus A320-214 JA805P 'Mariko Jet' at Tokyo/Narita. (Photo: Aviation Wire)

This is Peach's third route connecting Japan and Taiwan; Kansai - Taipei/Taoyuan (TPE/RCTP) was launched on October 16, 2012, which was increased to double daily only two months later on December 15, and Okinawa/Naha (OKA/ROAH) - Taoyuan was started on September 20, 2013. The airline has proven to be popular with Taiwanese travelers as well, with them so far accounting for around 60% of seats on these flights.

Peach's network. Matsuyama will be launched on February 1st. (Image: Peach)

Peach's fleet currently stands at 11 Airbus A320-200s all seating 180, flying 10 domestic and six international routes. The next new city will be Matsuyama (MYJ/RJOM), its 10th domestic destination, to be added on February 1st. A modest three more A320s will be acquired in 2014. Peach's hub is Kansai, however, they have already announced intentions to develop Naha into its second hub, with the particular aim of using its strategic location to funnel passengers between the main islands of Japan and yet-to-be-launched destinations in southeast Asia.

ANA Boeing 747-400D JA8966 leaves Japan.

All Nippon Airways' (NH/ANA) Boeing 747-481/D JA8966, which operated its last revenue flight on January 6th (ANA retires JA8966; only two B747-400Ds remain.), took off from Japanese soil for the last time on January 16th, at 2119 local time.

JA8966 makes its final takeoff from Runway 34R, with Tokyo Gate Bridge in the background. (Photo: Aviation Wire)

Manufactured on July 12, 1995, JA8966 had plied domestic skies in Japan ever since delivery. In its final weeks, it operated most of ANA's 'Satogaeri Flights', where the B747-400D made one final visit to destinations the type formerly served, as part of the airline's 'Final 747: Thanks Jumbo!' series of events marking the retirement of the 'Queen of the Skies'. It flew to Komaki (KMQ/RJNK) on November 10th, Hiroshima (HIJ/RJOA) on November 17th, Nagoya/Chubu Centrair (NGO/RJGG) on November 22nd, Kagoshima (KOJ/RJFK) on December 1st, and Nagasaki (NGS/RJFU) on December 8th.

Via Anchorage (ANC/PANC), JA8966 was ferried as flight NH9432 from Tokyo/Haneda (HND/RJTT) to Tupelo (TUP/KTUP) in Mississippi, U.S., where buyer Universal Asset Management will dismantle it for spare parts. ANA's B747 fleet is now down to only two; JA8960 and JA8961. The final revenue flight is planned for March 31st on a Haneda - Okinawa/Naha (OKA/ROAH) round-trip. ANA will also deploy the type one last time on the Haneda - Fukuoka (FUK/RJFF) and Haneda - Sapporo/New Chitose (CTS/RJCC) routes one day before on March 30th.

Source: Aviation Wire (in Japanese)

Fuji Dream Airlines announces Yamagata.

On January 14th, Fuji Dream Airlines (JH/FDA) announced the launch of Nagoya/Komaki (NKM/RJNA) - Yamagata (GAJ/RJSC) service from March 30th. It will coincide with the delivery of their eighth aircraft. The timetable is as follows:

March 30 - June 30, 2014
JH383 NKM 1330 - 1435 GAJ E70 Daily
JH384 GAJ 1505 - 1620 NKM E70 Daily

July 1 - October 25, 2014
JH383 NKM 1150 - 1255 GAJ E70 Daily
JH384 GAJ 1325 - 1440 NKM E70 Daily 

Their eighth Embraer ERJ170-200/STD (E175), to be delivered in March as JA08FJ, will be painted in 'tea green', representing Shizuoka's famous green tea farms. Their ninth to eleventh aircraft will be acquired to replace its three smaller Embraer ERJ170-100s (E170). 

Computer-generated image of FDA's eighth E-Jet 'Tea Green'. (Image: FDA)

Launching new destinations from its hometown of Shizuoka (FSZ/RJNS), which the airline said was considering, has been postponed, citing the airport's curfew, which cannot be changed until at least 2015. When the airport opened in June 2009, it had reached an agreement with local communities that flights would be operated only between 0730 and 2030. Currently, FDA's Shizuoka operations see three daily flights to Fukuoka (FUK/RJFF), a daily flight to Kagoshima (KOJ/RJFK), and summer seasonal service to Sapporo/New Chitose (CTS/RJCC). Its headquarters and crew training center are also located there. For the time being, FDA will add more frequencies to current cities served from Komaki.

Source: Fuji Dream Airlines (PDF; in Japanese)

Battery problem grounds a JAL Boeing 787.

Japan Airlines (JL/JAL) has grounded Boeing 787-8 JA834J, after a battery problem was discovered during a check-up at Tokyo/Narita (NRT/RJAA) when the aircraft was preparing for service to Bangkok/Suvarnabhumi (BKK/VTBS) as JL707 on January 14th.

Maintenance crew spotted white smoke coming out from the lower part of the fuselage during the inspection around 1615 local time on Tuesday, before the plane's scheduled departure to Thailand at 1805. When the engineers went outside the aircraft, the smoke was no longer there, but cockpit warning lights indicated potential malfunctions with the main battery and charger. Upon checking the battery, they found that the venting valve for one of the eight cells had activated and liquid appeared to have leaked inside. There have been no signs that the fault had propagated to other cells in the battery, nor signs that the liquid that leaked had breached the containment box.

The 158 passengers and 11 crew for JL707 were directed to another B787, JA829J, and it departed only seven minutes behind schedule. The valve is among the modifications made to the Dreamliner's battery systems following a three-month-long worldwide grounding of the airliner last year. It is designed to release pressure in battery cells in the event of overheating. The Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) and Boeing are currently investigating the matter. Delivered to JAL in June 2013, a few weeks after Boeing restarted deliveries of the B787, JA834J has so far logged 2,679 hours.

Source: Aviation Wire (in Japanese)

Amakusa Airlines to acquire an ATR42.

Amakusa Airlines (AHX), the commuter airline of the Amakusa Islands in Kumamoto Prefecture, is reportedly in discussions to find a replacement aircraft for its 39-seat sole Bombardier DHC-8. Presently, the top candidate is a 48-seat ATR42. An order could be placed with the European manufacturer as early as this year for a 2015 delivery. If the plan bears fruit, it would be ATR's first customer in Japan, after would-be ATR72 operator Link Airs went out of business before taking any deliveries.

Amakusa Airlines often uses unofficial 'AMX' instead of AHX. (Image: Amakusa Airlines)

Delivered in November 1999, DHC-8-103 JA81MX has been in service ever since operations were launched in March 2000, coinciding with the opening of Amakusa Airfield (AXJ/RJDA). A 300-million-JPY C-check is coming up in 2015, and the company has concluded that that amount plus subsequent maintenance costs of the 14-year-old turboprop would outweigh the expenses of replacing it with a newer model.

Amakusa Airlines is owned 53.31% by Kumamoto Prefecture, 22.92% by the City of Amakusa, 2.73% by the City of Kamiamakusa, 1.2% by Reihoku Town, among others. From its base at Amakusa with its single DHC-8, they operate to Fukuoka (FUK/RJFF) and Kumamoto (KMJ/RJFT), as well as the Kumamoto - Osaka/Itami (ITM/RJOO) route.

Source: Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun (in Japanese)

CoachFlyer HC330: MSJ - OKD on Hokkaido Air System's Saab SF340.

Travel date: July 2013
Flight: HC330
Route: Misawa (MSJ/RJSM) - Sapporo/Okadama (OKD/RJCO)
Carrier: Hokkaido Air System (HC/NTH)
Aircraft: Saab SF340B-WT JA03HC
Class: Economy
Direct distance: 268 km (167 miles)
Flight time: 48 minutes

Little known outside of Japan, or even the northernmost major island of the Japanese archipelago, Hokkaido Air System (HC/NTH), often unofficially referred to as HAC ("H"okkaido "A"ir System "C"o., Ltd.), has been plying regional intra-Hokkaido routes since 1998. Originally founded jointly by Japan Air System (JD/JAS) and the Government of Hokkaido in September 1997, it was formed to provide high-speed public transportation between its major cities as well as the satellite islands in this by far the biggest and most rural prefecture of Japan. Acronym HAC was chosen over HAS to avoid confusion with a company named Hokkaido Air Services, which was based at Sapporo/New Chitose (CTS/RJCC) running food and souvenir shops. Operations were launched in March 1998 connecting Hakodate (HKD/RJCH), the third biggest city in Hokkaido, with Asahikawa (AKJ/RJEC), the second biggest, and Kushiro (KUH/RJCK) using Saab SF340Bs. However, losses quickly mounted, and the airline kept on borrowing cash from the Hokkaido government.

Saab SF340B-WT JA01HC, the only aircraft so far in the new livery, at Okadama. (Photo: Ryosuke Yano)

HAC's aircraft wore JAS's rainbow colors until JAS was merged into Japan Airlines (JL/JAL) in 2002, when they adopted the 'Arc of the Sun' livery. In 2010, owing to JAL's financial troubles, the parent decided to pull out of managing HAC, and after a heavily-negotiated deal, all but 14% of its shares were transferred to municipalities HAC served and Hokkaido's local businesses in March 2011. Shut-down was avoided and HAC received another 1 billion JPY injection from the Hokkaido government, enabling them to simplify its operations by abandoning New Chitose and concentrating on Sapporo's downtown Okadama (OKD/RJCO), introduce a new livery, and launch its own reservations system (it had relied on JAL).

View from HC330, northbound. (Photo: Ryosuke Yano)

However, coupled with a landing incident and a maintenance mishap that were well covered by the media, together with transition costs, HAC continued to bleed cash and in February 2012, declared a balance cash insolvency, with cash reserves of just 4 million JPY and a record 560 million JPY loss for fiscal year ending in March 2012. After hiring various accounting firms to analyze HAC's assets and help lay a Plan B, Hokkaido decided to cover for at least 200 million JPY of the losses and lend more cash, and hired former JAL Safety Operations Manager Chihiro Tamura as President to implement a new road to recovery. Route rationalization came and operations at Asahikawa and Memanbetsu (MMB/RJCM) were closed down by January 2013, meanwhile increasing frequency on the relatively profitable Okadama -Hakodate and Okadama - Kushiro routes.

Inside the seat pocket. FLY HAC is their hand-made magazine. (Photo: Ryosuke Yano)

Seeing an only intra-Hokkaido network as limited for growth, HAC ventured outside of Hokkaido for the first time in a decade, when they launched Okadama - Misawa (MSJ/RSJM), in eastern Aomori prefecture on July 1st. Misawa itself had lost a connection to Hokkaido when JAL pulled out of that route in 2007. So I and my wife booked on flight HC330 from Misawa to Okadama to taste the reborn HAC. Arriving at the airport's free parking lot (just a two-minute walk farther than the charged one), we were already checked-in at 1110. Other than HAC, JAL is the only airline serving Misawa, having inherited the destination from the merger with JAS in 2002, with three flights from Tokyo/Haneda (HND/RJTT) and a single flight from Osaka/Itami (ITM/RJOO), both daily, so naturally, JAL provides check-in and ground handling for HAC here. As space is limited on the 36-seat turboprop, carry-on baggage is limited to one piece within 35 x 45 x 20cm and 10kg, and a check-in baggage allowance of one suitcase within 120 x 60 x 50cm and 20kg is provided. With no two flights departing at the same time, security was a breeze, and boarding started at 1125. 

The cabin of HAC's Saab SF340B. (Photo: Ryosuke Yano)

As it's a SF340, we boarded from the apron. At 1134, the door was closed and engines were started, and we were moving on our own at 1144, nine minutes behind schedule. As we reached the threshold of Runway 10, the captain told us that we would be on hold for nearly 10 minutes to wait for an incoming military aircraft. Misawa shares its single runway with the adjacent Japan Self Defense Force (JSDF) and U.S. Air Force (USAF) bases. So it was not until 1157 that we took off from Runway 10, immediately banking left and heading north along the shore. Seat-belt signs were turned off at 1205, and four minutes later, the single flight attendant started handing out blankets followed by candies. Bottled water and green tea were available when requested. Young fliers received a small airplane toy, a picture book, along with a small packaged snack. HAC has its own in-flight magazine named 'FLY HAC', all hand-made by its employees, giving passengers the impression of a small family-run airline. Its staff write articles about the sightseeing spots and local cuisines at the airline's destinations, print them, and bind them in a transparent plastic folder. 

Aomori's Shimokita Peninsula seen from the southbound flight back to Misawa. (Photo: Ryosuke Yano)

Captain Sakamoto made his announcement at 1212, apologizing for the delay and reported that we were cruising at 4,600m (15,000ft) at 470kph (290mph). We had a smooth cruise, however, the clouds below us were thick, obstructing what would be a beautiful scenery of Aomori's Shimokita penninsula and Hokkaido's vast land and picturesque mountains (I did get a spectacular view on the way back to Misawa. Photos posted!). At 1225, the flight attendant announced that we would be descending soon, and started collecting anything we would like to discard. Seven minutes later, we had begun our descent. Seat-belt signs were turned on at 1236 and we flew right over and passed Sapporo city, heading north then making a sharp turn to the right, for a final approach to Okadama. We touched down on Runway 14 at 1245, and came to a stop in front of the compact terminal three minutes later, 13 minutes behind schedule. Total flight time was 48 minutes. 

Lake Toya seen from the southbound flight back to Misawa. (Photo: Ryosuke Yano)

We deplaned to the tarmac and walked to the terminal building, and our baggage was out in just a few minutes. Okadama's simple terminal consists of three floors; the arrivals hall and check-in counters are on the first, the departures hall along with a restaurant and souvenir shop are on the second, and an observation deck is on the third. The Sakae-machi subway station is a five-minute bus ride from the airport, and from there would take 12 minutes to downtown Sapporo. New Chitose, the much larger main international airport serving Sapporo, is a 40-minute express-train ride or a 1.5-hour bus ride from downtown. Although HAC has been the sole user of Okadama since 2010, when ANA subsidiary Air Nippon Network (EH/AKX) left to concentrate on New Chitose (the opposite of what HAC did), Fuji Dream Airlines (JH/FDA) conducted a test flight to Okadama from Nagoya/Komaki (NKM/RJNA) in July with an Embraer ERJ170 and has announced its intention to start seasonal and charter operations, leveraging the airport's proximity to downtown. Year-round jet operations are still thought to be difficult, unless the 1,500m runway is extended. 

Mt. Yotei seen from the southbound flight back to Misawa. (Photo: Ryosuke Yano)

HAC now operates five Okadama - Hakodate round-trips, four Okadama - Kushiro round-trips, and a round-trip each for Okadama - Misawa, Hakodate - Misawa (seasonal), Okadama - Rishiri (RIS/RJER), and Hakodate - Okushiri (OIR/RJEO), with a trio of Saab SF340Bs. Its ownership portfolio includes Hokkaido Government with 36.47%, JAL with 14.49%, City of Sapporo with 13.53%, City of Hakodate's 5.02%, Hokkaido Bank's 4.74%, North Pacific Bank's 4.74%, Hokkaido Electric Power's 4.74%, City of Kushiro's 3.04%, Seicomart's 1.97%, City of Asahikawa's 1.01%, Hokkaido Chuo Bus' 1.01%, Sapporo Breweries' 1.01%, etc. In July, HAC restarted code-sharing with JAL, and for the first time launched its own frequent-flyer program 'HAC Flight Points', where passengers can get a point effective for two years for a one-way ticket; six points can be redeemed for a model airplane, 12 for a one-way ticket, and 24 for a round-trip ticket.

Okadama's compact terminal seen from the tarmac. (Photo: Ryosuke Yano)

Together with offering more fare choices and running promotions, HAC reported for August 2013 (high season; Obon homecoming month) passenger numbers increasing by 28.6% and a load factor increase of 19.4% to 71.8% compared to one year ago. The newly-launched Okadama - Misawa route also had 69.3%. The 2013-2014 end-of-the-year-to-new-year holiday season saw a system-wide load factor of 64.3%, with the Okadama - Misawa route producing a similar figure. Being profitable in providing local commuting services in rural areas is not an easy mission, but it is certainly a necessary means of travel in Hokkaido where fast and frequent trains ubiquitous in other parts of Japan are almost non-existent, and what would be a several hours car drive could be reduced to merely a half-to-one-hour hop. Years of dependency on JAS (and later JAL) and subsidies from local governments brought about operational inefficiencies and slow-to-respond management, however, the financial difficulties of JAL and HAC itself now having one leg in the grave, HAC is finally making changes. Exploring opportunities beyond Hokkaido has been just one of many.

HAC's check-in counters at Okadama. (Photo: Ryosuke Yano)

In a surprise move on September 18th, JAL announced intentions to re-invest in HAC and bring its ownership up to 51% as early as 2014, together with plans to restart up to 10 rural routes that were abandoned during its restructuring. Whether those who believed could turn HAC around by themselves are sighing, or those who thought of demise as unavoidable are relieved, is not sure, as some analysts viewed the announcement as JAL's tactic to get the bigger share of additional international slots at Haneda being allocated from March, 2014. Investing in public transportation in rural areas is one of the many factors considered by the government when allocating slots at the heavily-regulated airport. Eventually, on October 2nd, 2013, ANA received 11 and JAL just five of the additional daily daytime international slots, which led to JAL strongly criticizing the government and requesting clarification about the decision process. 

Our JA03HC at Okadama. It still wears JAL's 'Arc of the Sun' livery. (Photo: Ryosuke Yano)

Whatever the outcome of JAL's planned re-involvement, HAC is still clinging to its life after two major near-bankruptcies, and recent efforts and positive results are having itself and especially local governments in Hokkaido hoping for a third-time lucky.

ANA Boeing 747 makes final visit to Itami.

As planned, All Nippon Airways (NH/ANA) carried out 'Okaeri! Jumbo' at Osaka/Itami (ITM/RJOO) on January 12th, as part of the airline's 'Final 747: Thanks Jumbo!' series of events commemorating the retirement of the Boeing 747.

The Captains of the scenic flight and the staff who came up with the event. (Photo: Aviation Wire)

The chosen jumbo-jet was Boeing 747-481/D JA8961, which took off from Tokyo/Haneda (HND/RJTT) at 0629 local time without any passengers and touched down at Itami at 0722. It was towed to ANA's Itami maintenance hangar for a tour and close-up photo opportunities of the jetliner for 240 lucky enthusiasts (120 pairs) from 0915 to 1200. People who bought more than 1,000 JPY at the Itami ANA Festa shop were eligible to apply for the pick. On site were Captains Mr. Inoue and Mr. Yamamoto, who would be at the controls of the historic flight, as well as Mrs. Waki of ANA's Osaka operations service, who came up with the event, answering interviews and photo requests.

NH2051, B747-481/D JA8961 receives a water cannon salute upon arrival. (Photo: Aviation Wire)

After that, the aircraft was moved to Gate 13 where a farewell ceremony took place, followed by boarding for flight NH2051, a sightseeing flight for 400 locals (200 pairs) chosen from over 5,000 applicants living in the nearby cities of Ikeda, Itami, Kawanishi, Takarazuka, and Toyonaka. Eventually, 471 passengers, including the mayors of each city, local media, and ANA staff, boarded the airplane. Push-back started at 1403, and the aircraft took off at 1427. Cruising at 6,000 meters (20,000 feet), JA8961 headed northeast, flying near Tokyo where Izu Oshima, Mount Fuji, Tokyo Sky Tree, Rainbow Bridge, and the skyscrapers of Tokyo and Yokohama were well visible. The scenic flight touched down back at Itami at 1545, when passengers gave a big round of applause to the crew and the aircraft, and after receiving a traditional water cannon salute, came to a stop at Gate 10 at 1550. The aircraft was ferried back to Haneda later in the evening.

One of the images on ANA's 'Final 747: Thanks Jumbo!' website. (Image: ANA)

'Okaeri' translates to 'welcome back'. ANA brought back the 565-seat jumbo jetliner to Itami for the first and last time since March 31st, 2006, when tri-jets and quad-jets were banned from the airport to reduce noise footprint. The airline obtained a one-day quad-jet permission from the local governments for this purpose. On this day, thousands of people from aviation enthusiasts to locals gathered around the airport to catch a glimpse of history. Two B747-400Ds remain with ANA and the last day of operations will be March 31st, putting an end to 35 years of B747 service with ANA, and 44 years of passenger B747 flights in Japan.

Source: Aviation Wire (in Japanese)
Source: Traicy (in Japanese) 

Star Flyer to add ANA's code on all flights.

Star Flyer (7G/SFJ) will code-share with All Nippon Airways (NH/ANA) on all three of their new daily Fukuoka (FUK/RJFF) - Nagoya/Chubu Centrair (NGO/RJGG) flights, which will be launched on March 30th. This will result in the carrier code-sharing with ANA on all of its flights.

Star Flyer's Airbus A320-214 JA08MC at Fukuoka in October 2013. (Photo: Ryosuke Yano)

In November, Star Flyer announced that fiscal year 2013 will likely result in at least a 1.74 billion JPY loss, forcing the carrier to restructure its operations. Its system-wide load factor from April through September was 63.8%. As a result, they are axing the four-times daily Osaka/Kansai (KIX/RJBB) - Fukuoka (FUK/RJFF) service after February 19th as well as their double-daily Kitakyushu (KKJ/RJFR) - Busan/Gimhae (PUS/RKPK) route, their sole international service, after March 29th. Two additional Airbus A320-200s will be returned to lessors, which would bring the fleet down to nine. Its eight executives took 15-30% salary cuts, and the company is looking for 30 voluntary retirements. Meanwhile, it will start placing ANA's code on all of its 10 Tokyo/Haneda (HND/RJTT) - Fukuoka round-trips on February 1st. ANA Holdings owns 17.26% of Star Flyer.

One of a handful of carriers born after de-regulation, Star Flyer tried to operate high-quality service from its hub at Kitakyushu with Airbus A320s equipped with audio-visual-on-demand (AVOD) at every seat and accommodating only 144 passengers. However, instead of carving out a niche, it will soon be not much more than a feeder carrier for ANA, as is the case with AIRDO (HD/ADO) (d.b.a. Air Do) and Skynet Asia Airways (6J/SNJ) (d.b.a. Solaseed Air). ANA is decreasing service on the Chubu Centrair - Fukuoka route from nine to six after Star Flyer commences the route.

Source: Yomiuri Shimbun (in Japanese)

Skymark to add three more routes from Yonago.

Skymark Airlines (BC/SKY), as rumored before (Skymark to add more cities from Sendai and Yonago?), announced that they will be launching three more destinations from Yonago (YGJ/RJOH) starting April 1st. They will be serving Tokyo/Haneda (HND/RJTT) twice daily, Sapporo/New Chitose (CTS/RJCC) once daily, and Okinawa/Naha (OKA/ROAH) one time daily. All flights will be operated by 177-seat Boeing 737-800s.

Skymark's Boeing 737-82Y(WL) JA737Z at Fukuoka in August 2012. (Photo: Ryosuke Yano)

Skymark only started operations at Yonago, its new focus city, on December 20th, 2013, when they launched twice daily service each to Tokyo/Narita (NRT/RJAA) and Kobe (UKB/RJBE). One of the Kobe flights extends to Ibaraki (IBR/RJAH). Until that day, the only domestic route from Yonago was All Nippon Airways' (NH/ANA) service to Haneda.

Skymark currently operates 31 Boeing 737-800s and will take delivery of the first of 10 Airbus A330-300s later this month.

Source: Nikkei Shimbun (in Japanese)