The persistent slow restart to air travel has resulted in AirAsia Japan’s demise yesterday as well as Philippine Airlines’ (PAL) decision to slash up to 2,700 jobs.
Established at Chubu Centrair International Airport in July 2014, AirAsia Japan is the latest business casualty of the Covid-19 pandemic.
AirAsia Japan ceased operations on October 5
In a press statement, AirAsia Japan said travel restrictions and the uncertainties it created have severely curtailed demand for business and leisure travel, resulting in flight reductions, cancellations and grounding of aircraft. These factors have weighed heavily on the company’s ability to continue operations.
Representative director and COO of AirAsia Japan, Jun Aida, said: “Despite our unrelenting efforts to sustain operations through successive and wide-ranging cost reduction initiatives, we have concluded that it would be an extremely challenging feat for us to continue operating without any visibility and certainty of a post-pandemic recovery path.
“I would like to express our deepest gratitude and appreciation to our loyal guests and other stakeholders who have supported us all along. This painful decision to cease operations was decided neither in haste nor taken lightly. It was agreed upon after conducting a thorough business review.”
AirAsia Japan’s exit will be carried out in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations including the Japan Civil Aeronautics Act.
Meanwhile, PAL will cut up to a third of its workforce as it continues to struggle with suppressed demand. It is running less than 15 per cent of its normal daily flights eight months after the Philippine government imposed travel curbs.
“The collapse in travel demand and persistent travel restrictions on most global and domestic routes have made retrenchment inevitable,” PAL said in a statement.
The persistent slow restart to air travel has resulted in AirAsia Japan’s demise yesterday as well as Philippine Airlines’ (PAL) decision to slash up to 2,700 jobs.
Established at Chubu Centrair International Airport in July 2014, AirAsia Japan is the latest business casualty of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a press statement, AirAsia Japan said travel restrictions and the uncertainties it created have severely curtailed demand for business and leisure travel, resulting in flight reductions, cancellations and grounding of aircraft. These factors have weighed heavily on the company’s ability to continue operations.
Representative director and COO of AirAsia Japan, Jun Aida, said: “Despite our unrelenting efforts to sustain operations through successive and wide-ranging cost reduction initiatives, we have concluded that it would be an extremely challenging feat for us to continue operating without any visibility and certainty of a post-pandemic recovery path.
“I would like to express our deepest gratitude and appreciation to our loyal guests and other stakeholders who have supported us all along. This painful decision to cease operations was decided neither in haste nor taken lightly. It was agreed upon after conducting a thorough business review.”
AirAsia Japan’s exit will be carried out in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations including the Japan Civil Aeronautics Act.
Meanwhile, PAL will cut up to a third of its workforce as it continues to struggle with suppressed demand. It is running less than 15 per cent of its normal daily flights eight months after the Philippine government imposed travel curbs.
“The collapse in travel demand and persistent travel restrictions on most global and domestic routes have made retrenchment inevitable,” PAL said in a statement.