Despite the emergence of budget airlines that pose a threat to major carriers around the globe, Japanese startup carriers are still struggling to take off, with some already in rehabilitation.
If the Japanese entrants are to succeed, a Canadian aviation expert believes they should put more emphasis on cultivating regional-oriented markets rather than try to compete head-on with the established airlines.
"The primary mission of low-cost carriers is to provide low fares" and serve an untapped market to stimulate new demand, said Tae Oum, a transportation professor at the University of British Columbia and president of the Air Transport Research Society.