Spring Japan announced on October 26 that it will add four Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The aircraft will be introduced in phases from fiscal 2027 onward, with the aim of expanding its fleet from the current six aircraft to 10 by 2030. The airline will strengthen its core Japan-China routes and increase capacity to approximately double the fiscal 2025 level.
The four additional aircraft will be converted from aircraft currently operated by Japan Airlines (JAL). They will have 183 seats, compared with 189 seats on Spring Japan’s existing aircraft. The seating capacity of the existing aircraft will remain unchanged, and the airline will operate with two cabin configurations after the new aircraft are introduced.
At a press conference held at Narita Airport, Spring Japan President Tatsuro Asami explained that the airline plans to increase available seat kilometers (ASK), a measure of capacity, from 2.016 billion seat-kilometers in fiscal 2025 to approximately 4 billion seat-kilometers after transitioning to a 10-aircraft fleet. He indicated that expansion of international routes between Japan and China would be given priority.
Spring Japan currently operates seven international routes from Tokyo/Narita to Beijing, Shanghai, Harbin, Dalian, Tianjin, Nanjing, and Ningbo, as well as four domestic routes: Tokyo/Narita to Sapporo/Chitose, Hakodate, and Hiroshima, and Nagoya/Chubu to Sapporo/Chitose.
For international route development, the airline is targeting “white spots”—markets not served by other carriers. Asami said that by launching services to destinations where “no one else is flying” and leveraging the company’s cost structure, Spring Japan can improve convenience for travelers. He expressed his determination to develop unique routes, saying, “That is our strongest ambition.” Asked about the possibility of serving cities that currently cannot be reached by nonstop flights from Japan, he replied, “We want to target them.”
Regarding the Tokyo/Narita-Dalian and Tokyo/Narita-Nanjing routes, for which tickets for the current winter schedule are not being sold, he said only that the airline would “properly launch services when conditions allow,” without providing a specific timeline.
As for expanding domestic services, he explained that “the main focus is still short-haul international routes,” and that the expansion will mainly consist of additional international flights. International and domestic services currently account for roughly an 8-to-2 ratio, and he indicated that China routes will continue to account for around 70% to 80% of the network.
In connection with Spring Japan’s business development, domestic dedicated cargo aircraft (Airbus A321-200P2F) operated by Spring Japan for the Yamato Group and JAL Group are scheduled to cease operations around June 2027. According to Asami, the airline plans to secure the additional flight crew required for fleet expansion through a combination of type-rating transitions to the 737 for crew assigned to the cargo aircraft and new hires. Regarding the impact of ending the dedicated cargo aircraft business, he said, “There will be no direct impact on the expansion of the passenger business.”
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This article was generated using automatic translation by GPT-4 API. The translation may not be accurate.
