Qantas is pulling out of Jetstar Japan after selling its minority stake in the low cost carrier to the Japanese government.
The state-owned Development Bank of Japan will pick up the Aussie air carrier’s 33.3% stake, joining Japan Airlines (50%) and finance services company Tokyo Century (16.7%) as the owners.
The deal is expected to be finalised by June 2027.
Qantas says it is pulling out to focus on its core Australian operations as it accelerates its largest-ever fleet renewal and says existing flights will not be affected.
There are no impact to Qantas or Jetstar services to and from Japan while codeshare flights with Qantas, Jetstar and JAL will not be affected.
The new owners will rebrand the airline while staff numbers will be maintained as Jetstar Japan eyes future growth based on the expansion of Narita Airport.
Masakazu Tanaka, CEO of Jetstar Japan says: “We’ve built an amazing airline over the last nearly 14 years, carrying more than 55 million customers.”
Mitsuko Tottori, President and Group CEO of Japan Airlines, says the airline is “delighted” and deeply grateful to the Aussie carrier for their 14-year partnership in developing the low-cost carrier market in Japan.
Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson says they are “incredibly proud” of the role Jetstar Japan played in the low-cost aviation sector in Japan.
Last year, the airline closed its Jetstar Asia operations out of Singapore to focus on its domestic and New Zealand operations.
OTHER QANTAS SERVICES
A newly-arrived QantasLink Airbus A220, the airline’s 11th, is now flying between Brisbane and Wellington three times a week.
The airline will also boost its Brisbane-Honiara (Solomon Islands) service from four to five times per week from March 29 by using an Embraer 190 aircraft.
The air carrier expects to add four more A220s later this year with a standing order for more than 200 aircraft.
Their Western Australian subsidiary, Network Aviation is to receive three Embraer E190s this year to replace its retiring Fokker 100 aircraft as part of a 14-strong E190 fleet allocation after they also received four A320s from Jetstar Asia.
