AirAsia Japan (Nagoya Chubu) has delayed its launch until year-end the CEO and founder of AirAsia (AK, Kuala Lumpur International), Tony Fernandes, has said. Though the carrier had planned to launch in June, certification with the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism (MLITT) was taking longer than expected.
"We are the only LCC with a network covering all of Asia. Look at our name. We are AirAsia. Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia are also on our horizon. Japan would be our North Asia hub and India our South Asia hub. We will continue to expand our network as Asia's largest LCC. 2015 will see us fly to Sapporo Chitose, Honolulu, and London," Fernandes was quoted by the ZipanguFlyer blog as saying.
Following the collapse of its first Japanese project - a joint venture with ANA - All Nippon Airways (NH, Tokyo Haneda) whose remnants were later used to form Vanilla Air (Tokyo Narita) - AirAsia set about establishing a new budget carrier whose partners include Octave Japan Infrastructure Fund (19%), Rakuten (18%), Noevir Holdings (9%), and Alpen (5%).
In a bid to secure the carrier's longevity, Fernandes has said the carrier will shift its dependence away from Southeast Asia, where the market is approaching saturation and competition is fiercer than ever.
