Summary
- ZIPAIR has celebrated three years of operations, growing to a monthly operation of 412 flights and serving eight destinations in five countries since its launch.
- The US is ZIPAIR’s primary market, with half its routes going to the US, and San Francisco being the newest city added to its network.
- ZIPAIR operates a small fleet of Boeing 787-8s, offering a two-cabin configuration with 18 business class seats and 272 in economy, and currently valued at $508.21 million.
Yesterday, Japanese low-cost carrier ZIPAIR celebrated three years of operations. Since its launch, the subsidiary of Japan Airlines has grown to a monthly operation of 412 flights, serving eight destinations in five countries.
Celebrating three years
ZIPAIR was launched in the course of a turbulent time on the earth, lower than one yr after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Its inaugural flight was not a big success, with just two passengers flying on the inaugural flight from Tokyo to Seoul. Though initially launched in 2018, the pandemic halted its plans for inaugural services. Now, in keeping with Cirium data, ZIP Air is working flights to 5 countries.
The US is the Japanese low-cost carrier’s primary market, with half its routes going to the US. This month, of the 412 flights scheduled by ZIP Air, 172, or 41.75%, are to and from the USA. San Francisco is the newest city to be added to ZIP’s network, with flights launched on June 2 and now operating five times weekly.
Click here for San Francisco – Tokyo flights.
On the time of the announcement of the San Francisco launch, Shingo Nishida, ZIPAIR’s President, said,
“We’re pleased to announce the introduction of the San Francisco Tokyo Narita route, which becomes our fourth gateway in the USA. Through our relationship with SFO, we’re confident this service will provide a beneficial link for business and cultural exchange for our mutual customers.”
Along with flying to San Francisco, ZIPAIR flies to nearby San Jose, Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), and Honolulu. Of the US routes, only Los Angeles is served every day. San Jose is served five times weekly, and Honolulu 3 times weekly.
ZIPAIR’s only long-haul operations are to the US, with its remaining destinations all in Asia and routes starting from 784 to five,451 miles. Cirium data shows 4 additional every day routes: Bangkok, Seoul, Manila, and Singapore. Because the airline operates a fleet of Boeing 787-8s, ZIPAIR offers 8,700 seats in each direction on these routes.
Photo: viper-zero | Shutterstock
Below is an inventory of ZIPAIR’s routes from longest to shortest:
Destination |
Distance (in miles) |
Los Angeles |
5,451 |
San Jose |
5,154 |
San Francisco |
5,124 |
Honolulu |
3,818 |
Singapore |
3,324 |
Bangkok |
2,889 |
Manila |
1,893 |
Seoul |
784 |
Click here for Honolulu – Tokyo flights.
ZIPAIR’s fleet
The ZIPAIR fleet is small, with just seven aircraft for all its routes, currently valued at $508.21 million. As mentioned above, ZIPAIR only has Boeing 787-8s, the smallest variant of the Dreamliner family, which have a median age of 8.4 years in keeping with ch-aviation. Five of the seven aircraft were delivered to Japan Airlines in 2012 and omitted to ZIP when it began operations. Two of the Dreamliners were delivered this yr, the primary in March and the second in August. The Dreamliners are available a two-cabin configuration with 18 business class seats and 272 in economy.