JAL’s regional subsidiaries join Oneworld as affiliates

Japan Air Commuter (JC, Kagoshima) and HAC – Hokkaido Air System (NTH, Hakodate), two JAL Group regional carriers, joined Oneworld as affiliate members on October 25, 2020. As a result, passengers will gain access to the full range of alliance benefits on all regional flights operated by the two carriers. The group’s other two regional subsidiaries, JTA – Japan Transocean Air (NU, Okinawa Naha) and J-Air (Nagoya Komaki), are already Oneworld affiliates. “We are pleased to expand the Oneworld footprint in Japan alongside our valued partner JAL – Japan Airlines (JL, Tokyo Haneda), through the addition of another two of their high-quality affiliates to the alliance. Japan Air Commuter and Hokkaido Air System will provide even greater connectivity in Japan to customers, growing our position in one of the key markets in Asia,” alliance Chief Executive Rob Gurney said. Japan Air Commuter operates seven ATR42-600s and two ATR72-600s based out of Kagoshima on the southernmost of Japan’s main islands, Kyushu. Its network is concentrated on serving the chain of islands forming the Kyushu region. While the carrier has hitherto operated under its own JC code, as of October 25, all of its flights will be marketed under JAL’s JL code. In turn, Hokkaido Air System, which already uses JAL’s code, operates one ATR42-600 and three S340B(Plus)s out of Sapporo Okadama, deploying them mostly within Hokkaido and to smaller Okushiri and Rishiri islands. It also serves Misawa on Honshu.