No Cheap Flights in Japan

[Mulboyne]

Yomiuri: The high price of flying (in Japan, that is)
Japanese consumers are missing out on a revolution. All over the world, travelers are seeing airfares tumble thanks to a new breed of discount airline. The trend started in the United States, spread to Europe, and is now taking off in Asia. Yet Japanese consumers remain stuck with a limited choice of airlines and sky-high fares...Nor do the efforts of Japan's budget carriers impress someone who should know--Air Asia Chief Executive Officer Tony Fernandes. "They're not low-cost carriers--they don't understand the model"...more...

[Mulboyne]

Yomiuri: Skymark to slash fares below 20,000 yen in Feb.
Skymark Airlines Co. will slash all its fares to below 20,000 yen in February, when Kobe Airport begins operation, to differentiate itself from rival carriers that plan to hike fares due to soaring fuel prices, the airline's president said Thursday. The budget airline currently flies to five destinations from Tokyo, charging 24,000 yen for a one-way trip from Haneda Airport to Fukuoka, 25,500 yen to Kagoshima, 21,000 yen for Tokushima, 16,500 yen for Kansai Airport and 19,500 yen for Naha...Japan Airlines Corp. and All Nippon Airways Co. have set their fares at between 18,500 yen and 34,500 yen for routes competing with Skymark. If Skymark actually reduces its fares, the price gap between the two airline giants would expand to more than 10,000 yen in some routes, putting pressure on JAL and ANA to review their pricing.

[Captain Japan]

If Skymark actually reduces its fares, the price gap between the two airline giants would expand to more than 10,000 yen in some routes, putting pressure on JAL and ANA to review their pricing.

Wasn't this the same situation as Air Do a few years ago? Wasn't it JAL and ANA lowering fares that killed them?

[Mulboyne]

A new Airbus A320 arrives at Haneda kitted out in the colours of new Kyushu airline Starflyer who begin flights next March. Their slogan is "Blaze through the world like a comet" which is probably something passengers hope they don't end up doing.

[Mulboyne]

Sorry, it's Tyler Brule again.

Tyler Brule: A civil aviation experience
[quote]You don't know this yet but your summer holiday plans are about to change. Instead of the week on Salina, the three weeks in Maine, the trip to inspect the cabin you're building in Chile or the 10 days on Mykonos you're now going to be boarding a flight to Tokyo Narita, jumping in a cab to Haneda and sampling domestic air travel as it should be. I know this sounds like an enormous sacrifice but if you care about the way you get from A to B, have some funds to invest or simply enjoy new experiences then do as I did earlier in the week and sample a new benchmark in civil aviation.

My trips to Tokyo are normally crammed with mad taxi scrambles to track down obscure bars and café]
Shibuya to Haneda with a "small diversion" to Akihabara? What is he on about?

[Captain Japan]

[Mulboyne]

What do you figure his real job is? I don't think he can make a living writing this:

He wrote this in April:

Fast Lane [his weekly FT column] moved a step closer to establishing a permanent bureau in Tokyo this week after a near perfect Sunday afternoon spent wandering the streets of Daikanyama sampling a variety of retail and culinary delights. As you might have noticed, Tokyo has played a big role on this page over the past year (12 trips in the past 12 months) and so long as the economy remains buoyant, the shinkansen continue to run on time and the sakura bloom in late March it's a trend that's likely to continue.

[Taro Toporific]

He wrote this in April:

Fast Lane [his weekly FT column] moved a step closer to establishing a permanent bureau in Tokyo this week after a near perfect Sunday afternoon spent wandering the streets of Daikanyama

My guess is that is that he has found true love in the Land-of-Concrete(tm) and has a peg-boy secreted away in some Shibuya mansion.

[Greji]

My guess is that is that he has found true love in the Land-of-Concrete(tm) and has a peg-boy secreted away in some Shibuya mansion.

Might be a bit more truth in that than you know!