Which airport will Malaysia’s AirAsia fly to enter Japan?

According to the September 19th edition of Nihon Kezai Shinbun, the AirAsia Berhad group (AirAsia) plans to start serving Japanese cities the next year with fares 50-60% lower on average than major airlines.

 
AirAsia

It is really good news for budget traveler like me! However, I am still wondering which city in Japan AirAsia will chose to connect to Kuala Lumpur because I am living in Tokyo. AirAsia seems to have two options in 2010; a route to Tokyo’s Haneda airport which is slated to be expanded or another route to a new airport in Ibaraki Prefecture.

Expansion of Haneda airport is under construction to build the 4th runway by 2010 which would add 40% of the number of departure and arrival to the current capacity of 239, 000 times a year as of October 2005.

Ibaraki airport aims to open by March 2010 as well. I believe that most of residents in Metro Tokyo prefer to what AirAsia decides to choose Haneda airport because Ibaraki airport is not conveniently located in terms of public transportation. It might take one hour to ride express train starting from Ueno station in Tokyo and further to take bus to reach airport.

The worst case scenario for residents in Tokyo is that AirAsia will choose the second biggest city Osaka or other big cities as well as Jetstar Airways Pty Ltd, part of Australia’s Qantas Airways Ltd. in Australia or Cebu Pacific Air in the Philippines.

Both budget airlines, Jetstar and Cebu Pacific Air, started their flights to Osaka in August 2007 and in November 2008, respectively. Osaka is the second largest city having 8 million of population in Japan but there is no benefit for both airlines operating in Osaka, except reducing landing costs for departure and arrival.

Budget airline is relatively new for Japanese travelers who are still afraid of its safety. If budget airline wants to change mindset of those travelers, it could start its business in Tokyo where it is a center of broadcast marketing and buzz marketing to increase brand recognition.

 
Jetstar Airways Pty Ltd

 
Cebu Pacific Air