Skymark Airlines Co. plans to increase the number of airplanes it owns to 12 from the current five by 2008 and start offering flights between Naha and Fukuoka and Naha and Kobe, the company's next president said Tuesday.

"We'd like to add two airplanes a year to bring the total to 12 so we could cut costs (per airplane)," Shinichi Nishikubo, who will become president Jan. 28, said.

To acquire more airplanes, the company will use cash flow from operations rather than issuing new shares, he said.

Nishikubo said the new routes are intended to allow the company to shift away from its current Haneda airport-centered network to a wider network.

"But we won't go to extremes to expand routes," he added.