JAL’s LCC subsidiary, ZIP AIR, recently announced the launch of flights between Narita and San Jose (USA). With this, ZIP AIR will serve a total of 6 cities. ZIP AIR was established in 2019, but due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection, it will start operating only with cargo in 2020. However, despite the difficult situation, we started passenger transport from routes where we could expect a steady load factor, and this time we were able to open a new route.
- Singapore
- Bangkok
- Soul
- Los Angeles
- Honolulu
- San Jose
Looking at the boarding reviews of ZIP AIR, it seems that there are many high evaluations. In addition, during the 2022 summer vacation (Bon period), the maximum boarding rate was 87.2% for departures from Japan (8/11) and 77.9% for departures from overseas. So, this time we analyzed why ZIP AIR is so popular. The points are the following three points.
- Cheaper than major airlines
- Free in-flight WiFi
- First Japanese long haul LCC
First of all, I will explain “Cheaper than major airlines”. Since ZIP AIR is an LCC, it is of course essential that it is cheaper than major airlines in order to be chosen by passengers.
For example, we compared flight tickets from Narita to Honolulu in December for JAL and ZIP AIR. (December 3)
JAL fares are 76,770 yen. On the other hand, ZIP AIR fares are 38,839 yen one way.
As a result, ZIP AIR was 37,931 yen cheaper than JAL. (Prices are subject to change)
There are several reasons why ZIP AIR is cheap, but unlike major airlines, there is no fuel surcharge, which has a big impact in the situation of high oil prices. In the above fare comparison between JAL and ZIP AIR, there is a difference of 37,520 yen (fuel surcharge + expenses for JAL round trip + 75,040 yen).
Next, I will explain about “Free in-flight WiFi”. Since ZIP AIR is an LCC, it does not have a personal monitor, which is common in international flight equipment of major airlines. For this reason, some people may think that on international flights with long flight times, there is no time to watch movies or maps to check the flight position. However, ZIP AIR is equipped with WiFi instead of a personal monitor. Moreover, ZIP AIR is provided free of charge, while major airlines such as ANA and JAL charge a fee. Since the communication speed is not fast, you cannot download video sites such as Youtube, but you can use SNS such as LINE and Twitter. You can also watch movies and maps on your own smartphone or tablet instead of a personal monitor through in-flight WiFi.
Both ANA and JAL offer free Wi-Fi on domestic flights, so it seems that you can spend the same feeling as on domestic flights on ZIP AIR.
Finally, I would like to explain about “First Japanese long haul LCC”. Looking at the boarding reviews, it seems that many of the flight attendants are Japanese. Therefore, you will have no trouble communicating onboard. As for the difficult-to-understand website, which is a weak point of LCCs, overseas LCCs force the English version to be the Japanese version, so there are cases where the Japanese thinking and natural Japanese are not used. However, ZIP AIR, which is a Japanese LCC, has taken measures from the beginning of the website’s drawbacks and has a screen that makes it easy to make a reservation.
So far, I have explained the reasons why ZIP AIR is doing well. It is said that long distance LCC will not succeed as a business model, but I would like ZIP AIR to continue to do well.