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A new dawn broke for the Group on
29 October 2017 when the first AirAsia
flight took off from Chubu Centrair
International Airport, Nagoya to Shin
Chitose Airport, Sapporo, in the Land of
the Rising Sun. To mark the occasion, the
entire airport in Nagoya was painted in
AirAsia’s distinct red, with prominent wall-
to-wall advertisements featuring its cabin
crew and launch route, while a floor-to
-ceiling window sticker proudly depicted
an AirAsia Airbus A320 tail fin.
There certainly was reason to celebrate,
as the airline did take its time to get off the
ground. AirAsia entered into a partnership
with Rakuten Inc, Octave Japan
Infrastructure Fund I GK, Noevir Holdings
Co Ltd and Alpen Co Ltd to form AirAsia
Japan back in 2014, and announced
in 2015 that it was set to commence
operations. However, as Group CEO Tan
Sri (Dr) Tony Fernandes mentioned to
reporters when the first flight took off
some two years later, some ventures, like
good wine, take time to mature.
And it would seem that the maturity
period for this new venture is paying off.
Though operational only two months
before the year ended, AirAsia Japan
has notched an impressive on-time
performance of 90% on its twice daily
flights between the capital of Aichi
prefecture in the Chubu region, famous for
its automotive industry; and the capital of
Hokkaido prefecture, famous for its beer,
skiing and annual Sapporo Snow Festival.
NewStar in the
Landof theRisingSun
“THE ENTIRE NAGOYA AIRPORT WAS
PAINTED IN AIRASIA’S DISTINCT RED, WITH
ADVERTISEMENTS AND A FLOOR-TO-CEILING
WINDOW STICKER PROUDLY DEPICTING AN
AIRASIA AIRBUS A320 TAIL FIN.”
[ ]
AirAsia Group Berhad
BUSINESS REVIEW
131