Domestic Air Travel and Budget Airlines in Japan

Domestic Air Travel & Budget Airlines

1/19/2016

Airlines in Japan offer various discount fares on domestic flights.

Japan is covered by an extensive domestic air network, which is served by All Nippon Airways "ANA" and Japan Airlines "JAL", together with a number of smaller carriers which offer significant discounts on the cost of a standard domestic fare.

The launch of a number of low-cost airlines since 2012, has created increased competition and lower fares on several domestic and international routes.

Low-cost carriers including Peach Aviation, Jetstar Japan, and Vanilla Air operate out of Japan's two major international airports; Tokyo’s Narita Airport and Osaka's Kansai Airport.

They are providing travelers with cheap connections to domestic destinations such as Sapporo, Fukuoka and Okinawa.

Some are also operating on a few international routes, mainly to Korea and China, and plan to gradually extend their route networks.

Air Do

Air Do previously known as Hokkaido International Airlines is a regional airline operating scheduled service between the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido in cooperation with All Nippon Airways.

It is headquartered in Sapporo, and its main base of operations is Haneda Airport.

Japan Airlines "JAL"

Beside Its Discount Air Tickets For Foreign Visitors, JAL is offering several types of domestic discount air ticket to travelers.

JAL presently offers two types of discount ticket:

Jetstar Japan

Jetstar Japan Co., Ltd. is a low-fare Japanese airline based in Tokyo. The airline serves twelve destinations, 11 domestic and 1 international, using a fleet of 20 Airbus A320 aircraft.

The airline plans to expand its initial fleet of Airbus A320 aircraft to a total of 24 within the first few years of operation.

Peach Aviation

Peach Aviation is a low-cost airline based in Japan. Its head office is on the property of Kansai International Airport in Izumisano, Osaka Prefecture.

Peach has hubs at Kansai Airport in Osaka and at Naha Airport in Okinawa. In spring 2015 the airline has opened a third hub at Narita International Airport in order to serve the Greater Tokyo Area.

Skymark Airlines

Skymark Airlines Inc. is a low-cost airline headquartered at Haneda Airport, operating scheduled passenger services within Japan. In addition to its base at Haneda, Skymark is the dominant carrier at Kobe Airport and is the only domestic airline operating at Ibaraki Airport north of Tokyo.

Presently Skymark has the most extensive route network among the discount airlines in Japan.

Solaseed Air

Solaseed Air, incorporated as Skynet Asia Airways Co., Ltd., is a low-cost airline headquartered on the property of Miyazaki Airport in Miyazaki City, Miyazaki Prefecture.

It operates services mainly between destinations on Kyushu and Tokyo. The airline changed its branding to Solaseed Air in July 2011.

Spring Airlines Japan

Spring Airlines Japan Co., Ltd. is a low-cost airline headquartered in Kozunomori, Narita, Japan. It is 33% owned by Spring Airlines, a Chinese low-cost carrier, with the remainder held by various Japanese investors.

Spring Airlines Japan started operation in August 2014, using Terminal 2 of Narita International Airport as its operating base.

StarFlyer

StarFlyer Inc. is a Japanese airline headquartered on the grounds of Kitakyushu Airport in Fukuoka Prefecture, with services including Kita-Kyushu and Fukuoka to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport.

It describes itself as a "hybrid airline" providing a higher level of service than low-cost carriers while having operating costs lower than full-service legacy carriers.

Vanilla Air

Vanilla Air Inc. is a low-cost airline in Japan wholly owned by All Nippon Airways. Its head office is within Terminal 2 of Narita International Airport in Narita City, Chiba Prefecture.

Vanilla Air started operation in December 2013 on a small number of domestic and international routes.