AirAsia: Japan JV With All Nippon Airways Gets Air Operators Certificate

03 Feb 2012  AirAsia: Japan JV With All Nippon Airways Gets Air Operators Certificate

KUALA LUMPUR (Dow Jones)--Malaysia's AirAsia Bhd. (5099.KU), Southeast Asia's largest budget carrier by fleet size, Friday said its joint venture with Japan's All Nippon Airways Co. Ltd. (9202.TO) has received an Air Operators Certificate from the Japanese Civil Aviation Bureau. "The AOC shall enable AirAsia Japan to operate aircraft in its fleet for commercial flights to international and domestic destinations," the low-cost carrier said in an exchange filing with Bursa Malaysia. In July last year, AirAsia and All Nippon Airways said they would launch a new low-cost carrier, to be based at Narita airport near Tokyo, in a bid to take advantage of the growing travel boom in Asia. The Japanese airline, commonly known as ANA, holds a 67% stake in terms of voting rights in the joint venture, called AirAsia Japan Co., with capitalization of Y5 billion. AirAsia holds the remainder. The new carrier plans to start both domestic and international flights from August 2012.