Japan's first budget airline takes off

Japan's first full-scale low-cost carrier, Peach Aviation, based at Kansai International Airport, started operations on Thursday. The airline, in which All Nippon Airways has invested, currently operates two routes connecting its base with New Chitose (Sapporo) and Fukuoka.

This year will also mark the launch of many other low-cost carriers in Japan. Jetstar Japan, owned partly by Japan Airlines, plans to go into service in July, and AirAsia Japan, another low-cost carrier owned partly by ANA, will begin operations in August.

The first flight of Peach, almost fully booked, took off from Kansai International Airport for New Chitose at 7:17 a.m. on Thursday, 17 minutes behind schedule. The departure of the return flight for Kansai was also delayed one hour because of crowded boarding gates and a malfunctioning check-in machine. The airline operated a total of seven round-trip flights on its two routes on Thursday.

Shinichi Inoue, CEO of the airline, said before the first flight: "This opens a new era of the Japanese airline industry. We will offer new friendly services just like trains."

The carrier utilizes the small aircraft Airbus 320, which gets good mileage, in order to cut fuel costs and maintenance expenses. Full-scale operation of budget airlines like Peach may lead to a greater reduction of market prices for airline tickets.

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