Bangkok--10 Mar--Vector Group
? Celebrating its fifth anniversary on March 1, 2017
? Offering services to more than 17 million passengers in total
? Cultivating potential demand and leading inbound demand for Japan and the LCC industry
Peach Aviation Limited ("Peach"; Representative Director and CEO: Shinichi Inoue) recently celebrated the fifth anniversary of its operations on March 1.
Opening services based in Kansai Airport as Japan's first LCC in March 2012, Peach has continued to embrace its concept of serving its customers with the casual usability of a 'flying train' as it aims to become 'a bridge between Japan and the rest of Asia'. It has leveraged the geographical advantage of Kansai Airport, an hour closer to Asia compared with the Tokyo area, and used its unique business model to develop domestic and international routes at the fastest speed in the history of aviation in Japan. Peach broke past the one million passengers mark in November 2012, just eight months from its start, and has gone on to serve five million customers in April 2014, ten million in August 2015, and a total of more than 17 million travelers to date.
The year 2012, the year that Peach first opened its services, has been called the inaugural year for LCCs in Japan, and its market share that had been short of five percent in 2012 has grown today to exceed 10 percent (source: Civil Aviation Bureau, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport).
As seen in the dramatic increase of inbound passengers from Asia arriving at Kansai Airport since 2012 over major airports around the capital, Peach has continued to lead inbound demand in Japan. As a result, the new Japanese airline company that came into existence in Kansai has gained recognition in Asia and became the first LCC in Northeast Asia to receive the honor of the CAPA (an independent think tank for the aviation industry) award for "2015 Asia Pacific LCC of the Year" in November 2015.
Peach also stands out for its broad clientele. By employing a fuchsia pink-based design for its aircraft and focusing on women as its main target, the airline has been favored by many customers who had seldom flown in the past. Almost 30 percent of its customers have comprised women in their 20s and 30s in recent years, and the rate of non-Japanese passengers exceeds 70 percent on its international routes, showing that, true to its concept to serve as a 'flying train', Peach has been generating potential demand for the use of airlines and become a part of people's everyday lives in creating a new way of life for people in various locations. It's uniquely Peach that its customers themselves are creating completely new styles of travel like day trips to foreign destinations.
"Over the past five years, Peach has developed its services at the fastest rate in the Japanese aviation industry, and it has continued to push forward while making a lot of things that had been considered impossible possible,"says Shinichi Inoue, Representative Director and CEO of Peach. "This is thanks to the customers who have been using our LCC to date, the fans who have supported us, and the people in local administration and others who have been involved with us. Thank you all so much. When Peach first began its services, the comments had not been positive. People said that LCCs would never take root in Japan, and they said an airline based in Kansai Airport, which had been facing issues of decreasing numbers of passengers and flights, would never succeed. But today, LCCs have gained wide recognition in Japan, and record numbers of people are flying into Kansai Airport where things are bustling with activity. Peach will continue to pursue its uniqueness that can't be found at other airlines, and it will continue to deliver smiles to the people of Asia, and we look forward to your continued patronage."
Peach will continue to serve as an innovator for the Japanese aviation industry, and it will continue to brighten the skies over Japan and Asia in the Peach color. Look forward to the Peach story from its fifth year of operations and onward.