Japan’s Newest Airport Launches Drive For New Airline Operators

The move comes as the New Kitakyushu Airport prepares to host the Second Annual North Asia Low Cost Airline Symposium on August 4-5, 2005, sponsored by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. Government bodies, aviation organizations, airlines, airports and suppliers will attend this landmark event which is expected to attract several hundred delegates.

As part of its Route Development and Marketing initiative, airport officials will meet with airline delegations from across North Asia, including several low cost start-up carriers, planning new domestic and international routes to Southern Japan. There is potential for very high growth levels of short haul point-to-point air services between Japan, South Korea and China.

The Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport recently provided a major boost to the New Kitakyushu Airport by authorizing it to operate for 21 consecutive hours from 5:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m., facilitating late night passenger and freight services into and out of the offshore airport. The new airport offers a 2,500 metre runway, capable of servicing a broad range of aircraft types including A320s and B737NGs favored by low cost operators.

Start-up airline, Starflyer, will be based at the airport and plans to operate early morning services out of New Kitakyushu to Tokyo.

The North Asia Low Cost Airline Symposium program has now been finalized and includes the following keynote speakers:

• America West Airlines co-founder and former President, Michael Roach, Partner Roach & Sbarra Airline Consulting
• Association of Asia Pacific Airlines Andrew Herdman, Director General
• Seaport & Airport Bureau City of Kitakyushu Norihiko Yamagata, Director General

Also speaking will be:

• Japan Airlines Hideyuki Kanenari, Senior Executive Officer, Marketing Strategy & Research;
• Japan Civil Aviation Bureau Koji Takahashi, Deputy Director of Planning and Research, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transportation;
• Jeju Air Sang-Kil Joo, President;
• PATA John Koldowski, Managing Director, Strategic Intelligence Centre;
• Star Flyer Inc Yasushi Muto, Executive Director;
• United Airlines Sandra Chiu, Director of International Affairs;
• China Southern Airlines Mr. Li Kun, Chief Operating Officer;
• Asian Institute of Technology Professor Dr Shinya Hanaoka, School of Civil Engineering;
• BilltoBill Martijn Hovinga, CEO;
• Boeing (speaker tba);
• Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation Timothy Ross, Senior Associate, Financial Analysis;
• Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation Peter Harbison, Managing Director;
• Clark Air Base Victor Jose I. Luciano, Executive Vice President;
• Intermodal Inc Reiko Sonoyama, Director;
• Korean Transport Institute Kim Yeon Myung, Director of Aviation Department;
• Macau Eagle Aviation Services (WOW!Macau) Andrew Pyne, CEO;
• Macau International Airport John Chan Wei Leong, Executive Director;
• OAG Mario Hardy, Business Development Director.

If you wish to view the Symposium program, please register as a delegate or review sponsorship opportunities by visiting the Centre's website:
centreforaviation.com/conferences

Contact:

Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation
Telephone: +61-2-9241-3200
Fax: +61-2-9241-3400
Web site: https://centreforaviation.com/conferences

Note to editors:

About Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation
Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (centreforaviation.com) is a specialist consultancy group focused on the aviation industry in the Asia Pacific region. It provides advisory and information services to airlines, airports, governments, regulatory agencies and suppliers. The Centre’s headquarters is in Sydney, Australia, with regional offices in Singapore, New Delhi, Geneva, Vancouver and Manchester and representatives in Auckland, Bangkok, Beijing, Dhaka, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo.

Head Office, Sydney:
Derek Sadubin, General Manager
Aurora Place, Level 36, 88 Phillip St Sydney
PO Box N777, Grosvenor Place Sydney, NSW Australia 2000
Tel: +61 2 9241 3200
Fax: +61 2 9241 3400
Email: ds@centreforaviation.com

Southeast Asia Regional Office:
Alice Goh, Regional Director, Southeast Asia
Tel: +65 6227 1608
Fax: +65 6532 5643
Email: ag@centreforaviation.com

Indian Subcontinent and Middle East Office:
Kapil Kaul, CEO Indian Subcontinent & Middle East
Tel: +91-11-3090-1466
Fax: +91 11 2370 9154
Email: kk@centreforaviation.com

UK/Ireland Office:
David Bentley, Regional Manager, UK & Ireland
Tel/Fax: +44 (0) 1706 881 560
Email: db@centreforaviation.com

North America Office:
Laura Strand, Regional Director, North America
Tel: +1 604 988 7518
Fax: +1 604 988 7505
Email: ls@centreforaviation.com

More information is available on the Centre’s website
centreforaviation.com