J-Air

J-Air Co., Ltd.
株式会社ジェイエア
*Kabushiki-gaisha Jei Ea*
Founded	April 1991; 33 years ago; (as JAL Flight Academy)
Commenced operations	November 1996; 28 years ago; (as J-Air)
Hubs	Osaka–Itami; Sapporo–Chitose;
Focus cities	Fukuoka; Kagoshima;
Frequent-flyer program	JAL Mileage Bank
Alliance	Oneworld (affiliate)
Fleet size	32
Destinations	17
Parent company	Japan Airlines
Headquarters	Itami Airport, Osaka, Japan
Key people	Tsuyoshi Yamamura (President)
Website	www.jair.co.jp

J-Air is a Japanese regional commuter airline with its headquarters in the Terminal Building in Itami Airport near Toyonaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan^[1] and its main hub at Itami Airport. J-Air previously had its headquarters in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture.^[2] Its operations include scheduled passenger services to 17 destinations across regional Japan, under Japan Airlines flight numbers. The airline has a fleet of 35 aircraft, consisting of Embraer 170s and 190s linking tier-two and tier-three cities in Japan as to bypass JAL's congested hub in Tokyo (both Narita and Haneda).

J-Air is a wholly owned subsidiary of Japan's flag carrier, Japan Airlines (JAL) and an affiliate member of the Oneworld alliance. The airline was founded on 8 August 1996, when JAL restructured JAL Flight Academy and J-Air was separated; and began operations as a separate entity from Hiroshima-Nishi Airport on 1 November. Faced with limited opportunities for route expansion at Hiroshima, the airline relocated to its new home at Nagoya Airfield, after the opening of Chūbu Centrair International Airport, on 17 February 2005. In the fiscal year ended 31 March 1999, J-Air, together with its sister airlines within the JAL Group, carried over 32 million passengers and over 1.1 million tons of cargo and mail.^{[citation needed]}

History

JAL Flight Academy (JFA) was established by Japan Airlines (JAL) in April 1991, as a flight training school subsidiary based at Omura Airport, Nagasaki. It provided conversion training for its flight engineers to become pilots. In April 1991, a new division of JFA was created to operate scheduled services to succeed the troubled Nishi Seto Airlink services, a commuter airline serving cities in western Japan. Since the introduction of the 19-seats Jetstream 31s (JS31) in September 1991, the aircraft progressively replaced the Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante inherited from Nishi Seto.^[3]^[4]^[5]

In August 1996, JAL Flight Academy was restructured, J-Air was separated and established as a wholly owned regional subsidiary airline of Japan Airlines on 8 August. On 1 November, the airline inaugurated its first flight from Hiroshima-Nishi Airport and was building up service on smaller-demand domestic routes, which larger aircraft could not serve economically. However, the local government subsidy was terminated at the end of the 2000 fiscal year and the airline was required to become self-sufficient. As part of its domestic marketing strategy, JAL found a niche market where the 100-plus-seats Boeing 737s were too large and frequent services were in demand, and began repositioning the airline. Fifty-seats Bombardier CRJ200s were introduced and progressively replaced the five JS31s until completion in August 2003.^[3]^[4]^[6]

Despite the introduction of the CRJ200s, there were limited opportunities for route expansion from its home at Hiroshima-Nishi Airport. The airline decided to move to Nagoya Airfield, after the opening of Chūbu Centrair International Airport. On 17 February 2005, J-Air formally relocate to its new home at Nagoya Airfield. In order to strengthen the recognition of the JAL brand and improve customer convenience, the airline disposed its own flight numbers and changed to JAL flight numbers from 1 April 2005. At the same time, it formally ended flight to Hiroshima-Nishi which has been the airline base for almost 9 years with the last flight to Miyazaki.^[4]^[7]

On 1 April 2007, J-Air, together with four of its sister airlines within the JAL Group, joined Oneworld and became a Oneworld affiliate member.^[8] On 18 June, JAL signed a purchase agreement with Embraer for ten Embraer 170 jets, with options to acquire another five aircraft. The contract value was worth approximately US$435 million, if all the options are exercised. The aircraft will be used for linking tier-two and tier-three cities in Japan as to bypass the airline’s congested hub in Tokyo. The aircraft was configured to seat 76 passengers in a single-class layout and was designated for J-Air.^[9]^[10] The first aircraft was delivered on 3 October 2008, received the type certification from the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) on 27 October and operated its first flight in February 2009.^[11]^[12]^[13]

J-Air has been reported by Japanese newspapers and television to be leaving Nagoya Airfield in a phased transition with many flights leaving October 2010 and all flights leaving by end of March 2011.

List of events

List of historical J-Air events ^{[Note 1]}
Time of event	Event
April 1991	Japan Airlines (JAL) launches the business headquarters of JAL Flight Academy Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Omura City, Nagasaki Prefecture), using two Embraer EMB 110 (Bandeirante) turboprop aircraft manufactured by Embraer, Brazil. commenced operations of
September 1991	Jetstream Super 31 (JS31), a turboprop aircraft manufactured by British company BAe, goes into service.
August 1996	J-AIR Co., Ltd. was established with Hiroshima-Nishi Airport as its head office. J-Air operates 8 routes to and from Hiroshima-Nishi.
November 1996	J-AIR receives transfer of commuter business from JAL Flight Academy and commences operations
January 2001	J-AIR's first 13 flight attendants join the company
April 2001	Bombardier CRJ-200 goes into service
August 2003	BAe Jetstream 31 is retired
February 2005	Headquarters relocated to prefectural Nagoya Airport. Operates 23 flights/day on 13 routes, centered on flights to Nagoya and Osaka (Itami)
April 2005	Commencement of joint underwriting with Japan Airlines International Co., Ltd. and Japan Airlines Japan Co., Ltd.; Complete withdrawal from Hiroshima-Nishi Airport with last flight to Miyazaki.
August 2005	The flight attendants' uniforms will be changed to JAL uniforms, and the scarves will be J-AIR's original Bordeaux color.
August 2006	J-AIR celebrates its 10th anniversary. Operates 30 flights on 15 routes centering on flights to Nagoya and Osaka (Itami).
February 2007	Decided to introduce Japan's first regional jet; Embraer 170 manufactured by Embraer, Brazil.
February 2009	Embraer 170 services 33 flights on 18 routes, mainly Nagoya and Osaka (Itami) flights
November 2009	Started domestic freight and postal transport through joint underwriting with Japan Airlines International.
March 2011	Moved headquarters to Osaka International Airport (Itami) Started joint underwriting with Japan Airlines International and JAL Express Co., Ltd. Operated 62 flights on 23 routes, mainly flights to Osaka (Itami) and Sapporo
June 2013	The design of JAL Group's flight crew, cabin crew, and mechanic uniforms has been renewed J-AIR cabin crew's scarves have a pink-based color scheme
August 2014	Decided to introduce additional Embraer 170 and 190s Decided to introduce MRJ as JAL Group's next-generation regional aircraft (cancelled later after MRJ cancelled aircraft program)
April 2016	New Embraer 170 in-flight interior and launch of Wi-Fi free video program service that can be enjoyed on smartphones, etc.
May 2016	Embraer 190 goes into service between Osaka (Itami) and Kagoshima J-AIR sets Class J for the first time
June 2016	Retirement of Bombardier CRJ200 started
August 2016	20th anniversary of J-AIR
March 2017	Started Wi-Fi free video program service on 28 Embraer 190 aircraft. Operates 190 flights on 31 routes. Growing to a scale responsible for 30% of JAL flights (as of March 1, 2017)
February 2018	Retirement of Bombardier CRJ200 completed

Destinations

J-Air operates to the following destinations (as of October 2019):^[14]

Island	City	Airport	Notes
Hokkaido	Hakodate	Hakodate Airport
	Ōzora	Memanbetsu Airport
	Sapporo	New Chitose Airport	Hub
	Tokachi-Obihiro	Tokachi–Obihiro Airport	Terminated
Honshu	Akita	Akita Airport
	Aomori	Aomori Airport
	Fukushima	Fukushima Airport	Terminated
	Iwate-Hanamaki	Hanamaki Airport
	Hiroshima	Hiroshima Airport	Terminated
	Izumo	Izumo Airport
	Komatsu	Komatsu Airport	Terminated
	Misawa	Misawa Airport
	Nanki Shirahama	Nanki–Shirahama Airport	Terminated
	Niigata	Niigata Airport
	Oki Islands	Oki Airport
	Osaka	Kansai International Airport	Terminated
	Osaka	Itami Airport	Hub
	Sendai	Sendai Airport
	Shizuoka	Shizuoka Airport	Terminated
	Tokyo	Haneda Airport	Terminated
	Tottori	Tottori Airport	Terminated
	Yamagata	Yamagata Airport
Kyushu	Fukuoka	Fukuoka Airport	Focus city
	Kagoshima	Kagoshima Airport	Focus city
	Kitakyushu	Kitakyushu Airport	Terminated
	Kumamoto	Kumamoto Airport
	Miyazaki	Miyazaki Airport
	Nagasaki	Nagasaki Airport
	Ōita	Oita Airport
Ryukyu Islands	Amami	Amami Airport
Ryukyu Islands	Tokunoshima	Tokunoshima Airport
Shikoku	Kōchi	Kōchi Airport
	Matsuyama	Matsuyama Airport
	Tokushima	Tokushima Airport

Codeshare agreements

J-Air has Codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

China Airlines^[15]

Fleet

Current fleet

As of June 2024^[update], J-Air operates the following aircraft:^[16]

Current fleet of J-Air
Aircraft	In fleet	Orders	Passengers			Notes
Aircraft	In fleet	Orders	C	Y	Total	Notes
Embraer 170	18	—	—	76	76
Embraer 190	14	—	15	80	95
Total	32

Former fleet

J-Air formerly also operated the following aircraft types:^[17]

Historical fleet of J-Air
Aircraft	Total	Introduced	Retired	Refs.
BAe Jetstream 31	5	September 1991	August 2003	^[18]
Bombardier CRJ200	9	April 2001	February 2018	^[18]^[19]^[20]
Embraer EMB 110	Unknown	April 1991	Unknown	^[4]

JAL Mileage Bank

Historical liveries

J-Air had many liveries over the years. In the following order:

1991 to 2002: J-AIR livery

A fusion of the J-AIR letters with a red square separating the 'J' and the 'AIR' titles, and a grey band feature on the fuselage.

2002 to 2011: Arc of the Sun livery

After Japan Airlines (JAL) and Japan Air System (JAS) merged, the Tokyo office of Landor and JAL worked together again to create a new brand identity. Landor devised a livery referred to as the "Arc of the Sun". The 2000s rebranding began in April 2002 and was completed in April 2004. The brand identity firm designed 300,000 specific items for JAL. The JAL acronym remained, but it was changed to include a curved bar, which replaced the simple red square and gray rectangle used from 1989 (1991 For J-AIR). The curved bar was likened to a samurai sword. The tail now featured a quarter sun outlined in silver. JAL changed its branding again on 1 April 2011, reverting to the original 1959 brand, with slight modifications, as part of their post-bankruptcy rebrand.

2011-Present: Tsurumaru J-Air livery

The J-Air livery is called the tsurumaru (鶴丸) or "crane circle." It is an image of a Japanese red-crown crane with its wings extended in full flight. The Tsurumaru logo of its parent (Japan Airlines) was created in 1958 by Jerry Huff, the creative director at Botsford, Constantine and Gardner of San Francisco, which had been the advertising agency for Japan Airlines from its earliest days.