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2012 is Totally Japan's Year...for Aviation

2011 wasn't a banner year for Japan, not to mention for any industry in the country. We saw the ripple effects of natural disasters throughout the aviation world with the Japanese earthquake and resulting tsunami topping the list. What can be more indicative of Japanese pride, but to quickly rebuild stronger and better? Fortunately for us, airlines are towards the top of the progress.

· Peachy Keen
Last year we talked about the introduction of ANA's budget carrier based out of Osaka, Peach. With only 3 destinations, the airline will draw business passengers, eventually moving into the leisure market. Flights are taking off in March and tickets are already to purchase.

Happy Peach Fares have no baggage allowance or advanced seat selection but are quite affordable at around $175 return to Sapporo. If you need the sweet little perks, cough up about $75 more. Happy Peach Plus fares allow you to pick where you park yourself on the plane and some space in the belly for your luggage. With a bright purple livery and cabin, Peach is on our short list!

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LCCs / Skymark / Skymark Airlines / Airlines / Airline News / Airbus / Japan Travel / A380 / → All Tags

Skymark Airlines' Order for A380s Might Mean Cheap Flights to Japan Aren't Far Away

Skymark Airlines might not be on your radar, but it’s worth mentioning as it could be your chance to get to Japan for less Yen in the next few years. Right now the budget carrier kind of does its thing all over Japan, but in the future it might just be looking to link Tokyo with spots in Europe and North America.

Currently the airline just flies smaller jets, ones that can’t make the long trip across the Pacific, but that’s about to change. They just signed the final paperwork on a pretty decent order for several Airbus A380s. We don’t know exactly how much they are going to pay for their four super jumbo jets, but the planes list for a cool $1.5 billion each.

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Japan Travel / Low Cost Carriers / LCCs / Skymark / → All Tags

Japan Travel: Local LCC Needs Pilots

We're big fans of small budget airlines, but we just discovered low cost Japanese carrier Skymark. It's based in Tokyo and flies a bunch of domestic routes and also heads over to South Korea.

Skymark has a full, colorful website for its Japanese customers, but for English-speakers it's a little bare and full of slightly quaint English and a few odd commands. For example, on the contact page where telephone numbers are given for reservations and information, the site demands "Please double-check the phone number before dialing." No wrong numbers, please!

This airline's been in a spot of bother recently because two pilots retired at the end of May. Somehow Skymark didn't anticipate a problem and thus, two pilots short, had to cancel 168 flights during June. Increasing demand for pilots as LCCs grow across Asia is apparently to blame, and nobody's sure if they've found more pilots for July or not.

Related Stories:
· Skymark [Official Site]
· Japan Budget Airline Short of Pilots [Reuters]
· Low Cost Carriers coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: woinary]