JAPAN’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) has designs on the Chinese budget travel market, with plans to launch a new low-cost carrier (LCC) by mid-February.
A joint venture with Hong Kong-based First Eastern Investment Group, A&F-Aviation will initially be based in Osaka’s Kansai International Airport, servicing limited destinations in China and Japan from October, while also offering Japanese domestic flights. It will increase the number of routes to 20 within five years.
First Eastern chairman Victor Chu said the LCC would challenge Air China and Japan Airlines on Chinese routes, while its major hubs would include Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, as well as Hong Kong and Macau.
