AirAsia Japan (Nagoya Chubu) CEO Yoshinori Odagiri says his airline is keeping its options open so far as rumours of a tie up with Skymark Airlines (BC, Tokyo Haneda) are concerned. Asked whether or not it was true the nascent AirAsia (AK, Kuala Lumpur International) subsidiary had been approached by the struggling LCC, Odagiri told Japan's AviationWire news-service: "Nothing has materialized, but we keep all doors open."
According to the ZipanguFlyer blog, AirAsia Japan's interest in Skymark could centre on its coveted Tokyo Haneda rights for which it currently has 36 slot pairings. Haneda slots are highly sought after by local and international carriers alike given its closer proximity to downtown Tokyo as compared to Tokyo Narita. Last week, Skymark announced plans to wind down its Tokyo Narita operations and focus on Haneda from October in the wake of heavy first-quarter net loss of JPY5.8billion (USD56million). Skymark is also faced with the prospect of paying USD700million in cancellation fess to Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) for its abandoned order of six A380-800s.
Despite the cancellation, Skymark is still intent on expanding internationally with its fleet of A330-300s. The airline has reportedly appealed to the Japanese government to grant it midnight slots at Haneda which would allow it to offer regional flights to Honolulu, Singapore Changi, and Thailand. The flights would allow Skymark to better utilize its A330s which lie idle in Tokyo during the night in anticipation of the following day's domestic Japanese operations.
The granting of these slots and of the requisite traffic rights is subject to regulatory approval, however.
