The potential merger of All Nippon Airways’ budget subsidiaries Peach Aviation and Vanilla Air come 2020 is expected to give rise to Japan’s biggest LCC, overtaking Jetstar Japan.
According to a Nikkei report, details of the merger will be settled later, but for now it is understood that the Peach name will be retained “for developing the broader market”.
The merged LCC could supersede Jetstar Japan to become the top domestic budget carrier in the country. Peach and Vanilla units rank second and third among domestic LCCs, with their combined sales of roughly 76 billion yen (US$716 million) in the year ended March 2017 eclipsing that of Jetstar Japan.
Nikkei further reported that maintenance and crew jobs at both airlines will be kept post-merger, while both airlines will also be able to share pilots since both fly Airbus A320 planes.
