J-Air Co., Ltd. (株式会社ジェイエア, Kabushiki-gaisha Jei Ea), is a regional commuter airline with its headquarters in the Terminal Building in Itami Airport near Toyonaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan^[1] and its main hub at Itami Airport. J-Air previously had its headquarters in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture.^[2] Its operations include scheduled passenger services to 17 destinations across regional Japan, under Japan Airlines flight numbers. The airline has a fleet of 35 aircraft, consisting of Embraer 170s and Embraer 190s linking tier-two and tier-three cities in Japan as to bypass JAL's congested hub in Tokyo (both Narita and Haneda).

J-Air is a wholly owned subsidiary of Japan's flag carrier, Japan Airlines (JAL) and an affiliate member of the Oneworld alliance. The airline was founded on 8 August 1996, when JAL restructured JAL Flight Academy and J-Air was separated; and began operations as a separate entity from Hiroshima-Nishi Airport on 1 November. Faced with limited opportunities for route expansion at Hiroshima, the airline relocated to its new home at Nagoya Airfield, after the opening of Chūbu Centrair International Airport, on 17 February 2005. In the fiscal year ended 31 March 1999, J-Air, together with its sister airlines within the JAL Group, carried over 32 million passengers and over 1.1 million tons of cargo and mail.^{[citation needed]}

JAL Flight Academy (JFA) was established by Japan Airlines (JAL) in April 1991, as a flight training school subsidiary based at Omura Airport, Nagasaki. It provided conversion training for its flight engineers to become pilots. In April 1991, a new division of JFA was created to operate scheduled services to succeed the troubled Nishi Seto Airlink services, a commuter airline serving cities in western Japan. Since the introduction of the 19-seats Jetstream 31s (JS31) in September 1991, the aircraft progressively replaced the Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante inherited from Nishi Seto.^[3][4][5]

In August 1996, JAL Flight Academy was restructured, J-Air was separated and established as a wholly owned regional subsidiary airline of Japan Airlines on 8 August. On 1 November, the airline inaugurated its first flight from Hiroshima-Nishi Airport and was building up service on smaller-demand domestic routes, which larger aircraft could not serve economically. However, the local government subsidy was terminated at the end of the 2000 fiscal year and the airline was required to become self-sufficient. As part of its domestic marketing strategy, JAL found a niche market where the 100-plus-seats Boeing 737s were too large and frequent services were in demand, and began repositioning the airline. Fifty-seats Bombardier CRJ-200s were introduced and progressively replaced the five JS31s until completion in August 2003.^[3][4][6]

Despite the introduction of the Bombardier CRJ-200s, there were limited opportunities for route expansion from its home at Hiroshima-Nishi Airport. The airline decided to move to Nagoya Airfield, after the opening of Chūbu Centrair International Airport. On 17 February 2005, J-Air realized its dream and relocated to its new home at Nagoya Airfield. In order to strengthen the recognition of the JAL brand and improve customer convenience, the airline disposed its own flight numbers and changed to JAL flight numbers from 1 April 2005.^[4][7]

On 1 April 2007, J-Air, together with four of its sister airlines within the JAL Group, joined Oneworld and became a Oneworld affiliate member.^[8] On 18 June, JAL signed a purchase agreement with Embraer for ten Embraer 170 jets, with options to acquire another five aircraft. The contract value was worth approximately US$435 million, if all the options are exercised. The aircraft will be used for linking tier-two and tier-three cities in Japan as to bypass the airline’s congested hub in Tokyo. The aircraft was configured to seat 76 passengers in a single-class layout and was designated for J-Air.^[9][10] The first aircraft was delivered on 3 October 2008, received the type certification from the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau (JCAB) on 27 October and operated its first flight in February 2009.^[11][12][13]

J-Air has been reported by Japanese newspapers and television to be leaving Nagoya Airfield in a phased transition with many flights leaving October 2010 and all flights leaving by end of March 2011.

List of events

This article is in list format but may read better as prose. (February 2024)

More information Time of event, Event ...

List of historical J-Air events ^{[Note 1]}

Time of event	Event
April 1991	Japan Airlines (JAL) launches the business headquarters of JAL Flight Academy Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Omura City, Nagasaki Prefecture), using two Embraer EMB 110 (Bandeirante) turboprop aircraft manufactured by Embraer, Brazil. commenced operations of
September 1991	Jetstream Super 31 (JS31), a turboprop aircraft manufactured by British company BAe, goes into service.
August 1996	J-AIR Co., Ltd. was established with Hiroshima-Nishi Airport as its head office. J-Air operates 8 routes to and from Hiroshima-Nishi.
November 1996	J-AIR receives transfer of commuter business from JAL Flight Academy and commences operations
January 2001	J-AIR's first 13 flight attendants join the company
April 2001	Canadian Bombardier regional jet CRJ200 (CRJ200) goes into service
August 2003	JS31 is retired
February 2005	Headquarters relocated to prefectural Nagoya Airport. Operates 23 flights/day on 13 routes, centered on flights to Nagoya and Osaka (Itami)
April 2005	Commencement of joint underwriting with Japan Airlines International Co., Ltd. and Japan Airlines Japan Co., Ltd.;
August 2005	The flight attendants' uniforms will be changed to JAL uniforms, and the scarves will be J-AIR's original Bordeaux color.
August 2006	J-AIR celebrates its 10th anniversary. Operates 30 flights on 15 routes centering on flights to Nagoya and Osaka (Itami).
February 2007	Decided to introduce Japan's first regional jet; Embraer 170 (E170) manufactured by Embraer, Brazil.
February 2009	E170 Service 33 flights on 18 routes, mainly Nagoya and Osaka (Itami) flights
November 2009	Started domestic freight and postal transport through joint underwriting with Japan Airlines International.
March 2011	Moved headquarters to Osaka International Airport (Itami) Started joint underwriting with Japan Airlines International and JAL Express Co., Ltd. Operated 62 flights on 23 routes, mainly flights to Osaka (Itami) and Sapporo
June 2013	The design of JAL Group's flight crew, cabin crew, and mechanic uniforms has been renewed J-AIR cabin crew's scarves have a pink-based color scheme
August 2014	Decided to introduce additional E170 and Embraer 190 (E190) Decided to introduce Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ) as JAL Group's next-generation regional aircraft (scheduled to be operated by J-AIR)
April 2016	New E170 in-flight interior and launch of Wi-Fi free video program service that can be enjoyed on smartphones, etc.
May 2016	E190 goes into service between Osaka (Itami) and Kagoshima J-AIR sets Class J for the first time
June 2016	Retirement of CRJ200 started
August 2016	20th anniversary of J-AIR
March 2017	Started Wi-Fi free video program service on E190 28 aircraft. Operates 190 flights on 31 routes. Growing to a scale responsible for 30% of JAL flights (as of March 1, 2017)
February 2018	Retirement of CRJ200 completed

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J-Air operates to the following destinations (as of October 2019):^[14]

This section does not cite any sources. (February 2024)

J-Air had many liveries over the years. In the following order:

• Air transport in Japan
• List of airports in Japan
• List of Japanese companies
• Transport in Japan