First Trans-Pacific LCC Flight Started by ZIPAIR

 

Asahi Shimbun reported the inaugural Narita-Los Angeles flight by ZIPAIR, LCC brand of Japan Airlines.

First flight of LCC across the Pacific Ocean with 53 passengers and 11 tons of fully loaded cargo　（Photo ZIPAIR)

ZIPAIR, a low-cost carrier (LCC) affiliated with Japan Airlines, launched a new route between Narita and Los Angeles on December 25, 2021. According to the company, this is the first time for an LCC to directly connect the Asian region with North America.

The first flight departed at 2:39 p.m. with 10 crew members, 53 passengers, and about 11 tons of cargo at full capacity.

At the inauguration ceremony held at the airport, Shingo Nishida, president of ZIPAIR, said, "Many reservations we have received so far are a sign of the expectation for us to be the first LCC in the world to cross the Pacific Ocean. We would like to meet their expectations by offering LCC prices and services on routes that were previously only available to full-service carriers.” 

The number of flights on this route will be increased from three to six per week starting January 14, 2022.

Chiba Governor Toshihito Kumagai, who attended the ceremony, said, " I am looking forward to the day when many people will fly to see the performance of Shohei Ohtani (of the U.S. Major League Baseball team) on ZIPAIR after the COVID comes to an end." ■

U.K. Joins in the Development of the Next Fighter Aircraft in Japan----Possible to Share Some Components with Tempest?

2021/12/19 05:00

Yomiuri Shimbun reported British participation in the development of F-3, the new generation fighter jet project for Japan.

The Japanese government is in the process of finalizing a plan to involve the U.K. in the development of the next fighter jet, which will replace the Air Self-Defense Force's F-2 fighter jet. The government has already decided to jointly develop the engine part of the aircraft with the U.K., and the joint development of the airframe part, which is related to the engine, will reduce the development cost, which is expected to be several trillion yen.

A number of government officials have revealed the plan. The government hopes to finalize the framework for cooperation by next March. The UK's participation in the development is the first of its kind.

The U.K. will participate in the development of the air intakes for the jet engines and the parts near the exhaust ports. The British will participate in the development of the parts near the air intakes and exhaust ports for the jet engines, which are directly related to the performance of the fighter, such as thrust, and the Ministry of Defense decided that it would be more rational to develop them together with the engines. These parts are also important because they are closely related to the stealth performance and overall shape of the aircraft.

The government aims to deploy the successor aircraft around 2035, when the F-2s will retire. Since the U.K. is working on the research and development of the next fighter jet, the Tempest, with the aim of introducing it around the same time, it can be expected that efficiency will be improved in common areas of development. The U.K. is also proactive in disclosing information to Japan, and has the advantage of having less secret information and less restrictions on aircraft upgrades after deployment.

In order to foster domestic industry and ensure freedom of modification, the Japanese government has announced that the development of the next fighter jet will be "Japan-led" as a whole, and eight Japanese companies will promote joint development. Since Japan and the U.S. will jointly respond to emergencies, the aircraft will need to be highly interoperable with the U.S. military, so the government is planning to receive technical support from U.S. companies for the systems of the aircraft.

Centrair, the only one-runway major airport in Japan, will have two more runways in coming years.

 December 13,2021

Major media such as Nikkei, Chunichi and others reported expansion plans of the Chubu International Airport, Centrair, off the coast of Chita Peninsula in Aichi. Currently, Centrair has only one runway built on a man-made island.

 

 

Chubu International Airport , Yomiuri Shimbun

 

 

At a press conference on April 13, Aichi Governor Hideaki Omura announced his plan to build a new runway of 3290 meters on the east side of the current runway at Central Japan International Airport (Tokoname City) in 2026. The plan was to build a new runway by reclaiming the west side of the current airport, but since it takes time to reclaim the land, the governor wants to bring forward the plan to build two runways.

 

Once the new runway on the east side is operational, the number of arrivals and departures will increase by 20% from the current maximum of 130,000 to 156,000 per year. If the new runway on the west side is built, the number of arrivals and departures is expected to increase by 50% to 195,000.

 

Several sources have revealed that the runway at the airport, which opened in 2005, is aging and will eventually need a major renovation. Until now, the plan was to add one more runway by reclaiming the west side of the airport island.

 

The new plan is to build a new runway 3,300 meters north to south on the east side of the current runway. The total construction cost is expected to be around 15 billion yen. Upon completion of the new runway, the current runway will be shut down and undergo a major renovation. After that, the new runway will be used exclusively for takeoffs and the current runway exclusively for landings, increasing the arrival and departure capacity up to 1.2 times the current capacity. 

 

A third runway will be built on the west side of the airport after land reclamation is completed in 2037, in line with the original plan, to meet future increases in demand. The current runway will be abolished after it is put into service, and the airport will switch to the operation of two new runways on the east and west sides. The overall arrival and departure capacity of the airport is expected to eventually increase to 1.6 times the current level. Land reclamation work will begin by the end of the fiscal year.

 

Japan's major airports have four runways at Haneda, and two each at Narita, Kansai International, Itami, New Chitose, and Naha. With an eye on increasing demand for tourism to Japan, Narita is planning to build a third runway in 2029, and Fukuoka a second runway in 2025. Despite being located in the metropolitan area that includes Nagoya, Chubu has been lagging behind in terms of the number of flights.

 

Although demand for air travel has been sluggish due to the pandemic, it is expected to recover rapidly after the crisis is resolved. According to an announcement made in May this year by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the world's air passenger demand is expected to return to the 2019 level in 2023. 

Travel with Your Pet ....In the Cabin: LCC Star Flyer Tests the Concept Again

 Star Flyer to conduct second verification flight to bring pets on board 

November 26, 2021

Yomiuri Shimbun

Aviation news website Response reported Japanese LCC Star Flyer will conduct a second verification flight for in-flight pet service.

Star Flyer (https://www.starflyer.jp/en/）has announced that it will conduct its second verification flight with the aim of introducing an "In-flight Pet Accompaniment Service" (tentative name) that will allow passengers to spend time with their pets (small dogs and cats) on board at its scheduled domestic flights.

The company conducted the first verification test in October with the aim of introducing a service that would allow passengers to travel with their pets in the future, to offer more diversified services.

In this verification flight, as a countermeasure against allergies of other passengers, a pet crate (cage) was used to suppress the scattering of animal hair, utilizing the findings of research under the guidance of veterinarians. The airline will also use a high-performance particulate filter to ventilate the cabin and verify the thorough allergy countermeasures. 

In addition, with the cooperation of each of the partner companies, verification will be conducted on the environment for traveling with pets to and from airports, planes, and lodgings, as well as the customer experience during the lodging process.

The test will take on December 5 and 6. There will be two flights a day, one from Tokyo Haneda to Kitakyushu and the other from Kitakyushu to Haneda, using row 27, the last row. Passengers with pets on board will be given priority boarding, and will disembark after other passengers.

Pets will not be allowed to be taken out of their cages or fed inside the airport or on board. The animals that can be brought on board are limited to small dogs and cats that can fit in a pet cage of the size specified by the company (about 50 x 40 x 40 cm). The company selects the monitors and does not accept applications.

This Happens Only In Japan? ＄50 Fortune Lottery Gives You Destination of Your Next Jet Travel

 Peach's "Travel Lottery," a 5,000 yen chance to find the destination after a try, comes to Nagoya

 

Peach’s travel lottery is a chance ticket provider showing the destination after vending.

 

Peach Aviation will start selling "travel lottery tickets" with no choice of destination at Nagoya Parco (Sakae, Naka-ku, Nagoya City) on November 11. The lottery is being held to promote the Chubu route ahead of the first anniversary of Centrair's inauguration.

　The "Travel Lottery" is a vending machine that dispenses capsules of Peach points worth 6,000 yen or more, which can be used at designated destinations, when purchased for 5,000 yen each. At the Nagoya Parco terminal, the lottery covers four domestic routes from Centrair to Shin-Chitose (Sapporo)/Sendai/Naha (Okinawa)/Ishigaki. The only payment method is PayPay.

　For the first filling of the lottery, there will be a limited number of four special capsules called "Golden Travel Lottery" with a mission from CEO Kenmei Mori. The golden travel lottery will contain Peach Points worth 30,000 yen.■

Japan Airlines seeks to get financed largely for anticipating prolonged COVID years

 

JAL Stock Price at Tokyo Exchange, July-Sept 2021

Nikkei reported on Thursday that Japan Airlines announced to finance about JPY 300 billion (about USD 3 billion) from the market.  JAL, suffering from higher-than expected business setbacks by COVID-19, would aim at strengthening its financial prowse.

However, JAL secured about JPY 180 billion (USD 1.8 billion) in 2020 by public offering but the management decided to try large scale financing again.

JAL sees lower yield in its passenger traffic while it feels a stronger need for investment for new technologies including decarbonizing. 

As of the end of June, JAL’s capital ratio was 42.4%, one of the highest in major airliners in the world but its cash position decreased to JPY 357 billion, dropping by JPY 50 billion in just three months. 

However, JAL sees a gloomy perspective for the time being. Its domestic lines show stagnating demand due to many times of emergency situations declared by the central government while its international operations are blocked by continuing resticition of travel by many countries.  As of July, JAL passengership was around 40% in domestic lines and just 10% for international traffic, compared with pre-COVID 2019.

But JAL needs to secure financing for its long-term investment; a total of 450 billion for three years from March 2022 to the same month of 2024 is planned to introduce Airbus 350-900s and beef up its low cost carrier operations.

JAL will announce its official financial plans on September 10 in Japan.

Source 日本経済新聞　JAL、3000億円程度の調達発表　コロナ禍長期化に備え　

Japan Undertaking Afghan Evacuation Ops of Its Own; C-2, C-130s and Boeing 777

 Reported August 25, 2021

 

 

The Government has decided to send the Japanese Air Force One for Afghanistan evacuation operations to supplement the already dispatched three JASDF aircraft for sending additional servicemen. The Boeing 777 will be arriving in Pakistan as the operation base.

 

Boeing 777-300ER, Japanese Air Force One

 

Three JASDF transport aircraft, a C-2 and two C-130Hs, departed on August 24. The C-2, indegenous jet military transport by Kawasaki, arrived at Islamabad, capital of Pakistan on August 24 evening and C-130s are due to join there by August 25.

 

Japan intends to transport remaining Japanese nationals and local Afghan staff working for Japanese institutions.

 

C-2

 

C-130s, stationed at Komaki Air Base, arrived at Iruma Air Base in the Tokyo metropolitan region to pick up personnel and supplies. The two aircraft had to refuel in Naha Air Base enroute to Central Asia.

 

These C-130s will shuttle between Kabul and Islamabad or other nearby destinations to carry refugees.

 

Self Defense Forces will send 260 men and women to Afghanistan including Central Quick Response Regiment personnel for support.

 

The government decided to reinforce airlift capacity as the operation is valid until the US forces finish evacuation and Japan has to expedite its own operations.

 

The government 777 will send the servicemen, water and supplies but will return to Japan without any passengers.

Honda Jet Flies by Bio Fuel First Time In Japan

 

Honda Jet Elite Succeeds to Fly by SAF

Japanese news outlet Response https://response.jp/category/airplane/latest/

reported on June 30 that a Honda Jet Elite made a flight by biofuel of Euglena, a Japanese venture. 

The flight took place on June 29 from Kagoshima Airport and landed at Haneda International Airport after almost 90 minutes.

The sustainable aviation fuel used in this flight was prepared by blending used edible oil and eugulena-derived fat after certification. The bio fuel was mixed with conventional jet fuel.

Japan Biz Aviation, a private jet operator, will start charter flights of Honda Jet Elite from fall 2021 by offering an option of flight by bio fuel.■

Narita: Fully Automatic Passenger Boarding Bridge Test Begins

 

Aviation and Space News from Japan

Automatic Operation of Passenger Boarding Bridge under testing at Narita

Japanese news media Response reported the following:

A new fully automatic boarding bridge is being tested at Narita International Airport in Chiba, Japan. Airport personnel moves a lever, then a camera recognizes the position of the door and the bridge moves to a preposition point automatically.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Transportation and Construction Engineering, an affiliate of giant Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, announced with Narita International Airport Company on April 26 that they will work together to install the world’s first fully automatic passenger boarding bridge by applying ICT and IoT engineering.

The new concept is expected to enhance the efficiency of ground handling work at airport terminals and to ease stress due to labor shortage.

As the first trial, the automatic operation has started at gate 67 of Terminal 2 of Narita. Graphic analysis of the system recognizes the position of an aircraft door and it activates full automatic operation to move the bridge to the aircraft.

Future development includes a remote operation from tablet and simultaneous operation of two and more boarding bridges to an aircraft. Its final goal is a fully unmanned operation of a passenger boarding bridge as the first of its kind in the world in September 2025.

ANA Devices New Lavatory Pull Handle Style to Open by Elbow for Fear of Finger Touching Expressed by Passengers

 

ANA announced a modified door for opening the door to get out without touching the hand but with elbow actions.

A spokesperson of ANA said the passengers had expressed fear to touch on the door and the largest Japanese carrier added a handle on the pull handle so that a passenger can open the door to go out from the lavatory.

First of a kind, ANA will introduce the device to middle- and large aircraft fleet operating domestic routes in Japan.

Japan Airlines to Acquire LCC Spring Air Japan Anticipating Post-COVID Tourism of Chinese Visitors to Japan

 

Japan Airlines is going to acquire over 51% stocks of Spring Airlines Japan, a low cost carrier (LCC) and an affiliate of Spring Airlines of Shanghai, China, by June to make the LCC as a consolidated subsidiary of the major carrier. JAL owns about 5% of the stocks of Spring Airlines Japan at present.

Japan Airlines will pursue to get in-bound tourists to Japan after COVID-19 will be dwindled.

Spring Airlines Japan was launched in 2012 by Spring Airlines of China. Japanese investors, including JAL, have invested in this new airline with head office in Narita City, Chiba.  From its hub in Narita, Spring Airlines Japan operates domestic routes such as Shin Chitose, Hiroshima, Saga as well as international routes to Tianjin, Harbin and such, hoping to get connected to strong network of Spring China.

JAL hopes to acquire leisure tourists through this LCC. As more remote work and video conferencing has become popular, JAL cannot expect the return of robust business demands anytime soon.

 

This Airport in Nagoya Is Run by Toyota Way of Doing Business, Struggling in COVID-19 Pandemic Against Conditions But Confident to Overcome Low Air Travel Demands

 

An Airport Run by Toyota Way of Business in  Nagoya, Japan

Flight of Dreams is within the premises of Central Japan International Airpot, or Centrair. exhibiting the first example of Boeing 787 and features shops and restaurants. 

 

Toyo Keizai Online reported on what is happening at Chubu International Airport or Centrair in post-pandemic days.

Centrair is a case of airport management reform advocated by the government of Japan for a concession method where the ownership of the airport remains in the hand of the government but operations of runways and terminal buildings consigned to the private sector.

 This approach has been adopted for expecting the vitality of the private sector could change conventional airport management where money-losing was accepted as a matter of fact. 

In pre-pandemic years, growing inbound tourism demands and expansion of low-cost carriers were positive news for regional airports including Centrair, located south of Nagoya.  But COVID-19 stopped this trend and airport management is now getter harder with community economics having been hit much harder. Accordingly, airport management of today calls for the foresight to catch the change of time and bold decisions and actions.

'We discuss matters only with business management rules, making cash flow to neutral and making profit….What should we do? What our customers and local community want us in post-pandemic days? We simply try to go faster than the rest of airports for a goal of profitability,' said Riki Inuzuka, president and CEO of Central Japan International Airport Co., Ltd. Inuzuka, who took the seat of the CEO of Centrair, just seven months ago, saw two records of high and low in international flights in three months, namely January with the highest and April, the lowest, both in 2020.

Centrair was inaugurated in 2005 and took the attention of the industry as the cutting edge airport in Japan in terms of environmental policy, customer service quality, exploration of commercial facilities. However, after a decade or more, the other airports in Japan have caught up or surpassed Centrair. Mere reduction of airport landing charge has no appeal now, Inuzuka said.

Centrair saw a series of new features including Flight of Dreams, an aviation theme part by collaboration with Boeing, Terminal 2 for LCCs, International exhibition halls since 2018. Inuzuka envisions going a step further.

Turning to black 

Construction of Centrair, an airport built on an artificial island off the coast as Japan has so limited space on land to build an airport, adopted market principles from the design stage and the five CEOs have all been from Toyota Motor. With Toyota's way of production adopted to the construction, they could save over JPY170 billion, a well-known story in Japan, but also they pioneered airport management in Japan for the adoption of “visible management” and advanced strategy for prioritizing revenues from commercial sales.

Except for two years of losing money in 2008 and 2009 when the Lehman shock brought with the economic slump, Centrair recorded profitability in ten consecutive years.

Inuzuka, back in 2009, was department head of corporate planning at Toyota Motor when the global car giant reported a historic record of deficit in the worldwide recession. He faced many risk events at Toyota including recalling vehicles. 

 'I always recalled what the top officers back then at Toyota had done when I faced a critical moment for the survival of this company. Regardless of whether profitable or not, Toyota always seeks to eliminate fat. Coronavirus of today gave us a good chance to rethink the profitability of each and every element of our airport operations,’ he said.

Back in 2009, when the business turned to red with a passenger ship of 9 million, Centrair could record black with a further decline of 8.9 million passengers in 2011. This past record suggests to secure fundamental corporate strength to ‘turn to profitable even with 9 million passengers,’ he said.

Human Resource as Key Factor

The airport management company started with a mix of those from local governments and others from private firms.  The company consists of 200 full-time employees and those loaned staff from local governments account for only 10 percent today. As those staff hired after the start of the airport are getting higher in the company, Inuzuka said  HRD by Centrair way is getting more tangible recently.

‘As airport management calls for higher public service, it cannot be sustained with the same sensitivity of a private firm. National support is absolutely necessary. Based on that, how should we pursue a similar approach to private business practice to sustaining our operations in healthy status?  After all, I feel we can do it as long as we gather those who love airports, love doing business, love aircraft…, ‘ Inuzuka talked of his vision.

It doesn't matter where people came from, it also does not matter how an airport is administered either by private ownership, the third-sector or not. All matters are sharing of goals and objectives of working among the management and employees, he emphasized. ‘We will not miss a direction.’

Next Gen H3 Heavy Launching System Nears Completion at Mitsubishi Heavy

 

MHI and JAXA showed the next-generation launching rocket H3 at Tobishima, Aichi, January 23,2021

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) showed H3, the next-generation launching rocket, for the press on January 23, 2021. They will seek demands for satellite launching from governments and corporations. The space launching market is getting more competitive with start-ups scoring more successes and Japan expects to get more orders earlier and enhance reliability records for survival.

The body section of an H3 test unit was shown to the press at Tobishima Plant of MHI in Tobishima, Aichi. Its diameter is 5.2 meters, and its length is 57 meters. Launching capacity will be 1.3 times greater than current H2A and will be able to put larger satellites for broadcasting or communication as much as 6.5 t into orbit. H3 is under development as a replacement for H2A. The original schedule of the first launch of H3 was postponed to fiscal 2021 due to defects of the turbine. After production in Aichi, central Japan, H3 will be transported to Tanegashima, a remote island off Kyushu for launching.

A key point of H3 is the cost. Unit price is to be lowered to about JPY 5 billion in order to appeal to private sector demands, a  weak spot by H2A.  For lowering the price, more off-the-shelf components and increasing the launches of more than six times a year.  The structure of the tip of the rocket has been simplified as well. Lead time from taking the order to launching would be halved to a year.

MHI looks forward to capturing more customers by the appealing previous records of reliability in addition to lower prices. In the first phase, H3 will be confirmed of its performance as well as used for optical communication satellite projects. It will be used for the planned Mars exploration.

MHI has a successful launching record of 98.1% by conventional H2A and H2B, surpassing the world standard of 95%.  Survival in the global market calls for enhanced cost competitiveness by increasing its launching record. ■