Troubled Air Do expects to seek a full-fledged alliance with All Nippon Airways, including a capital tieup, company sources said Friday.
ANA seems willing to tie up with Air Do, formally known as Hokkaido International Airlines, to counter intensifying competition from Japan Airlines and Japan Air System, which will join forces in October, according to the sources.
ANA is particularly interested in Air Do's profitable Tokyo-Sapporo route, which operates six round-trip flights a week.
Air Do is expected to report accumulated losses of some 7.5 billion yen for the business year to March 31, with liabilities exceeding assets by 300 million yen.