A&F Aviation to announce branding and corporate identity in May-2011

A&F Aviation, ANA's LCC JV subsidiary, stated the branding of the start-up carrier is expected to be formally announced next month when its corporate identity and livery are unveiled (Routes Online, 14-Apr-2011). It will operate a fleet of 10 A320s which will be acquired from GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS). The Osaka Kansai International based carrier will launch operations in Mar-2012 and will initially operate to Fukuoka and Sapporo Chitose, adding its first international route to Incheon from May-2012. All three routes are already flown by ANA with a double daily service to Fukuoka, four daily services to Sapporo Chitose and a daily link to Incheon. Japan Airlines also operates from Osaka Kansai International to Sapporo Chitose four times daily, while Asiana Airlines, Korean Air and Jeju Air all serve the Incheon market. It is not immediately clear if ANA will continue to serve these destinations in its own right. The start-up plans to offer average fares around half the price currently offered on these routes from Osaka Kansai International. For the Fukuoka link, a market of 45,000 O&D passengers, the average fare is around USD215 one way, for Sapporo Chitose, a market of 468,000 travellers, it is USD253 and for Incheon, a market of 454,000 passengers, it is USD289.

A&F Aviation is scheduled to take delivery of its first aircraft, an A320 at the end of this year (Kyodo, 13-Apr-2011). The start-up will increase its fleet to three aircraft by May-2012.