Thursday, July 21, 2011

AirAsia makes foray into Japan in low-cost airline JV

KUALA LUMPUR: AIRASIA BHD [] plans to replicate its successful model in Japan with a proposed joint venture with All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd (ANA) of Japan.

It said on Thursday, July 21 that subject to obtaining the relevant regulatory approvals, the JV was expected to start operations in August 2012.

AirAsia said the JV would require an initial capitalisation of 1 billion yen while the authorised capital would be 5 billion yen. 'AirAsia will raise internal funding for its portion of the equity,' it said.

AirAsia said it would execute a shareholders agreement with ANA to forge a joint venture cooperation 'to establish a low cost airline in Japan based on the successful AirAsia business model'.

The company to be incorporated in Japan for the JV is named AirAsia Japan Co., Ltd.

AirAsia said the low cost carrier business model enables the airline to offer affordable fares to passengers. The business model keeps operating costs low by encouraging travelers to make Internet bookings where its lowest fares are offered.

'Overall operating efficiency further enhances the affordability of the LCC model. The presence of AirAsia Japan is to serve the highly lucrative travel market in Japan,' it said.

Both ANA and AirAsia firmly believe that AirAsia Japan will be a success as the Japanese market possesses the necessary ingredients for growth such as the population's strong propensity to travel, its high per capita income coupled with deep and significant internet penetration.

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