Peach Aviation to expand flights to Vietnam
Japanese budget carrier Peach Aviation will expand its mid-range flights to Southeast Asia and Vietnam, according to Asia Nikkei Review.
Photo: Asia Nikkei Review
The carrier is considering flying to Southeast Asia as early as 2020, to capture travel demand around the fast-growing region.
Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia are among the likely destinations, according to CEO Mr. Shinichi Inoue, for the seven- to nine-hour medium-haul services slated to begin around that year. “Hub airports are expected to help attract passengers from surrounding areas,” he said.
The unit of ANA Holdings envisions offering such flights from all four Japanese airports it uses: Kansai International Airport, serving greater Osaka, New Chitose Airport, on the northern island of Hokkaido, Sendai Airport, in the northeast, and Naha Airport in Okinawa.
It plans to absorb Vanilla Air, another ANA budget airline mainly serving greater Tokyo, by the end of fiscal year 2019. Flights out of Narita Airport are expected to increase with the consolidation.
Competition for budget medium-haul flights out of Japan is expected to intensify as Jetstar Japan and ANA’s biggest competitor, Japan Airlines, move to launch their own services.
In March, Vanilla Air officially cancelled all of its services in Vietnam, three days after its merger with Peach Aviation. Both specialize in providing affordable aviation services.
In September 2016, Vanilla Air initiated the flight routes of Ho Chi Minh City - Taipei (China) and Ho Chi Minh City - Tokyo. Along both routes, the airline saw constant, intense competition with other foreign-invested airlines such as EVA Air, Uni Airways, and China Airlines, as well as Vietnam-based affordable airlines such as Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet Air.
After merging with Vanilla Air, Peach Aviation is forecast to become Japan’s largest airline in the affordable air travel sector in terms of seat numbers per aircraft. By the end of March 2017, thanks to Vanilla and Peach, ANA Holdings secured 52 per cent of all seats offered in Japan’s aviation sector on both domestic and international flights.
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