J-Air

nihongo|J-Air Co., Ltd.|株式会社ジェイエア|Kabushiki-gaisha Jei Ea is an airline subsidiary of Japan Airlines (JAL). Based at Nagoya Airfield, it operates feederliner jets throughout the four major islands of Japan. Since the February 17, 2005 opening of Chūbu Centrair International Airport, it is the only airline that uses the relegated Nagoya Airfield for scheduled transport services. It also has a smaller hub in Osaka International Airport (Itami Airport). [Online timetable. A hub is a de facto thing.] J-Air is a Oneworld airline affiliate.

Code Data

*IATA Code: XM
*ICAO Code: JLJ
*Callsign: J-AIR

All seats are sold by the name of JAL therefore every ticket will carry JL after JAL.

History

[J-Air History in #External Links.]

On April 8, 1988, JAL Flight Academy Co., Ltd. (JFA) was founded in Hiroshima-Nishi Airport in Hiroshima City. In April 1991, a new division of JFA was created to operate scheduled services to succeed the troubled "Nishi Seto Airlink" services. In September 1991, a nineteen-passenger Jetstream 31 (JS31) replaced Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante from "Nishi Seto". JS31s were progressively added to the fleet.

On August 8, 1996, J-Air Co., Ltd was founded in Hiroshima City to identify itself as an airline. From April 2001, government subsidy termination required J-Air self-sufficient. In JAL group's marketing strategies it found its niche in segments where 100-plus-passenger Boeing 737s were too large and frequent services were in demand. Fifty-passenger CRJ-200s progressively replaced five JS31s until completion in August 2003. On February 17, 2005, it was relocated to Nagoya Airfield (NKM) near Nagoya to access the larger market opportunity.

On April 1, 2007, J-Air joined the alliance "Oneworld" as an airline affiliate.

Also on February 22, 2007, J-Air announced that it ordered 10 Embraer E-170 jets (78 passengers) plus 5 options. Their first receive will be October 2008, and first operation will be February 2009. J-Air's Embraer E-170 jets will be operated in Tokyo International Airport (Haneda) and Osaka International Airport (Itami) based routes [nihongo|Monthly Airline|月刊エアライン|Gekkan Earain] .In order to meet the J-Air's expansion project, they have started cadet pilot recruitment in November 2006. As of January 2008, the first and second cadet groups are training in J-Air's training center in Australia.

Destinations

[JAL online timetables.]

J-Air operates services to the following destinations:

Hokkaidō

* Obihiro (Obihiro Airport)
* Chitose/Sapporo (New Chitose Airport)

Honshū

* Chūbu region
** Aichi Prefecture
*** Nagoya (Nagoya Airfield): Primary Hub
** Niigata Prefecture
*** Niigata (Niigata Airport)
* Kansai region
** Hyogo Prefecture
** Osaka Prefecture
***Osaka International Airport (Itami Airport): Secondary Hub It is on the border of Hyôgo and Osaka Prefectures. It serves the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.
* Kantō region
** Chiba Prefecture
*** Narita (Narita International Airport) - International airport for Tokyo
* Tōhoku region
** Akita Prefecture
*** Akita (Akita Airport)
** Fukushima Prefecture
*** Tamakawa/Kōriyama (Fukushima Airport)
** Iwate Prefecture
*** Hanamaki/Morioka (Hanamaki Airport)
** Yamagata Prefecture
*** Yamagata (Yamagata Airport)

Kyūshū

* Fukuoka Prefecture
** Fukuoka (Fukuoka Airport)
* Miyazaki Prefecture
** Miyazaki (Miyazaki Airport)

Shikoku

* Ehime Prefecture
** Matsuyama (Matsuyama Airport)
* Kōchi Prefecture
** Kōchi (Kōchi Ryōma Airport)

No cargo service offered.

Fleet

As of March 2007 the J-Air fleet includes [cite news | title= Directory: World Airlines | work= Flight International | page= 96 | date= 2007-04-03] :

*9 Bombardier CRJ-200ER
*10 Firm orders / 5 options Embraer 170

External links

* [http://www.jair.co.jp/ J-Air]
* [http://www.jair.co.jp/about/ayumi.html J-Air history (in Japanese)]
* [http://www.jal.com/en/ Japan Airlines]
* [http://www.embraer.com.br/english/content/imprensa/press_releases_detalhe.asp?id=1592 Image of J-Air's new coming Fleet, Embraer E-170 Jet]

References