We are know, the Japanese aviation industry has been notorious for sky-high landing fees and fuel taxes, but not that's true the point of why AirAsia Japan fail. The airline's president Tomonori Ishii said the slump was partially due to the company's extra focus on online sales - a key strategy for AirAsia, but many Japanese travellers still book flights through travel agents. The airlines announced in June that the joint venture would be terminated by the end of October, just over a year after the carrier began flying out of Tokyo's Narita airport, due to a slump, more detail.
Budget carrier AirAsia Japan base on Narita Tokyo, Japan, the failed joint venture between AirAsia, Malaysia and ANA (All Nippon Airways) Japan, will be rebranded as Vanilla Air, the airline announced Tuesday, and will become the new name in December. Executives chose Vanilla Air from over 200 other names, taking a month and a half to decide.
 |
| Tomonori Ishii |
Vanilla Air, which will begin flights in late December with two passenger planes to be leased from ANA, is to target travellers heading for resort destinations.
All of AirAsia Japan's 420 staff will now become employees of Vanilla Air.
Ishii said the carrier would remain based at Narita airport, and aims to serve travellers to resort destinations both at home and overseas, mainly in Asia.
"We will begin with short-distance services but want to expand the range to mid- and long-distances in line with ANA's branding strategy," Ishii said, adding that it would also increase the number of airplanes to 10 in 2015.
He said further details about the new operation, including destinations and ticket fees, would be announced in late September.
A company spokeswoman said the new company would cooperate with travel agents, while introducing a new online ticketing system that "can be fit to local customers".
Photo by Bloomberg and Getty images