In 2024, Japanese Star Alliance carrier All Nippon Airways (ANA) launched AirJapan, as a new subsidiary. The intent was that the airline would operate Boeing 787-8s in an all-economy layout. ANA insisted that AirJapan wasn’t a full service or low cost airline, but instead, would “combine the best of both worlds while also featuring Japanese-style ideas and quality.”
Well, unfortunately it looks like this won’t be sticking around for much longer, as plans have already been announced for this operation to be discontinued. However, the logic is open to interpretation.
AirJapan will stop flying as of late March 2026
ANA has made the decision to restructure its brand strategy, aimed at maximizing the entire group’s profitability and competitiveness, while responding to changes in the business environment. With this, we’re going to see the AirJapan brand cease operations as of March 28, 2026, meaning the two Boeing 787-8s will no longer operate under AirJapan brand.
So as of that date, AirJapan’s flights from Tokyo Narita (NRT) to Bangkok (BKK), Seoul Incheon (ICN), and Singapore (SIN), will no longer operate with AirJapan branding.
Going forward, ANA will move from a multi-brand strategy to a dual-brand strategy. That means that Peach will be the group’s low cost (regional) carrier, while ANA will be the brand for all other flights.
Why is the AirJapan brand being eliminated after only around two years? Well, ANA’s explanation isn’t terribly clear. As the company describes it, “the global environment has seen changes such as the prolonged war in Ukraine and aircraft delivery delays, with concerns that these issues will continue,” and somehow that’s why AirJapan is being eliminated.
It sounds like ANA is worried that delivery delays will drag on with its new aircraft, and that these planes will be more profitable it flown under the ANA brand rather than under a separate brand. But that’s also a bit of a non-explanation.
If the yields with AirJapan were good, it doesn’t really explain why you’d eliminate the subsidiary. So I’m guessing it just wasn’t as lucrative as ANA hoped, and the airline wants to cut its losses sooner rather than later, and focus on its core brand. It remains to be seen with what timeline ANA actually reconfigures these AirJapan planes.
Don’t confuse ANA’s AirJapan with ANA’s Air Japan
This is where things get kind of funny, so let me clarify something. ANA is eliminating its AirJapan branded flights, which are the flights operated by two Boeing 787-8s that are in an all-economy layout.
However, ANA isn’t eliminating Air Japan, which is another subsidiary it has. Essentially, Air Japan is a subsidiary that technically operates a vast majority of ANA’s Boeing 787s, but the branding isn’t used in a customer facing way.
Those planes are painted in the ANA livery, and a vast majority of passengers wouldn’t even realize they’re technically flying on a subsidiary. However, during the booking process, you’ll often see a little note that the flight is operated by Air Japan.
So, why does ANA have the Air Japan subsidiary? I believe it’s due to some labor opportunities that this subsidiary provides, including the ability to hire foreign pilots back in the day (though that’s less of an issue nowadays, since Japan has less of a local pilot shortage).
So at least with the AirJapan branded operation ending, it should help with the confusion that many passengers have experienced, where people saw mention of their flight being operated by Air Japan, and assumed that meant they were flying on the all-economy subsidiary.
Bottom line
All Nippon Airways intends to eliminate its AirJapan brand as of late March 2026, a little over two years after launch. This operation had two Boeing 787-8s in an all-economy layout. ANA blames this decision on the Ukraine war and delayed aircraft deliveries, though I suspect the simple answer is that this just didn’t prove as lucrative as the company hoped, and it makes more sense to focus on the core brand.
What do you make of ANA eliminating AirJapan?
