Air Do

Air Do is a Japanese regional airline headquartered in Sapporo, Japan. It operates scheduled service between the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido in cooperation with All Nippon Airways, from its hubs at New Chitose Airport in Sapporo and Haneda Airport in Tokyo.

History

The Oak Sapporo Building in Sapporo, the site of the airline's headquarters

The airline was founded as Template:Nihongo in 1996 by Template:Nihongo, an entrepreneur in Hokkaido, shortly after the Japanese government approved a domestic airline deregulation policy that would allow carriers to freely set fares on domestic routes.<ref name="history" /> Hamada gathered investments from 29 other individuals who were interested in establishing a low-cost airline to compete with Japan's major domestic carriers (All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines, and Japan Air System) on flights between Hokkaido cities and Tokyo. Additional capital was raised from Kyocera, Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance, Hokkaido Electric Power Company and other institutional investors, as well as from Hokkaido local governments seeking less expensive air service to Tokyo.

The company started flight operations on the Tokyo-Sapporo route, using the Air Do brand, in December 1998. Its first CEO was the former Japan-based manager of Virgin Atlantic. Maintenance and ground handling services were outsourced to Japan Airlines. Air Do enjoyed very high load factors during its first few months of operation, as its fares were 60% to 70% of the walk-up fares offered by established airlines.

However, other airlines quickly adopted their own discounted advance purchase fares in the wake of Air Do's initial success, driving load factors down to around 50%. In 2000, the Hokkaido prefectural government injected more capital and installed one of its senior officials as head of the company. After being significantly impacted financially in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, and being denied additional financing from the Hokkaido prefectural government, Air Do entered Japanese corporate restructuring procedures in June 2002.

Air Do received new equity capital from a tokumei kumiai investment fund arranged by the Development Bank of Japan (DBJ), in which All Nippon Airways was a key investor. This began a number of business relationships between Air Do and ANA, including ANA codesharing on Air Do operated flights and Air Do leasing additional 767 and 737 aircraft from ANA.<ref name="CAPA">Template:Cite web</ref> The fund was dissolved in September 2008 and DBJ, ANA and other investors became direct shareholders in Air Do.

On October 1, 2012, the company's legal name was changed from Hokkaido International Airlines Co., Ltd. to AIRDO Co., Ltd.<ref name="rename">Template:Cite web</ref>

Air Do was sanctioned by the Japanese government in December 2014 for promoting a first officer to captain despite poor performance in training. Following the business improvement order, Air Do in January 2015 moved to eliminate its lowest-yielding routes to Niigata, Toyama, Fukushima and Komatsu.<ref name="2015t">Template:Cite news</ref>

In May 2021, Air Do and Solaseed Air announced their intentions to merge as a result of operating difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic.<ref name=kyodo041022>Template:Cite web</ref> In July 2021, Air Do shareholders approved a proposal to issue US$63.2 million of preferred shares to improve finances prior to the business integration.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The new holding company for both airlines, Template:Ill, was officially established on October 3, 2022.<ref name=kyodo041022/>

Corporate affairs

The airline's headquarters are located in the Template:Nihongo in Chūō-ku, Sapporo.<ref name="company" />

The company's president is Susumu Kusano, who was appointed to the position on June 27, 2019.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Destinations

Over its history, Air Do has operated scheduled services to the following destinations in Japan Template:As of:<ref name="timetable">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="destinations">Template:Cite web</ref>

Region	City	Airport	Notes	Ref
Hokkaido	Asahikawa	Asahikawa Airport
	Hakodate	Hakodate Airport
	Kushiro	Kushiro Airport
	Sapporo	New Chitose Airport	Template:Airline hub
	Obihiro	Tokachi–Obihiro Airport
	Ōzora	Memanbetsu Airport
Honshu	Fukushima	Fukushima Airport	Template:Terminated	<ref name="2015t"/>
	Hiroshima	Hiroshima Airport	Template:Terminated	<ref name="history"/>
	Kobe	Kobe Airport
	Nagoya	Chubu Centrair International Airport
	Okayama	Okayama Airport	Template:Terminated	<ref name="history"/>
	Sendai	Sendai Airport
	Tokyo	Haneda Airport	Template:Airline hub
	Toyama	Toyama Airport	Template:Terminated	<ref name="2015t"/>
	Komatsu	Komatsu Airport	Template:Terminated	<ref name="2015t"/>
	Niigata	Niigata Airport	Template:Terminated	<ref name="2015t"/>
Kyushu	Fukuoka	Fukuoka Airport		<ref name="2015t"/>

Codeshare agreements

Air Do has a codeshare agreement with All Nippon Airways.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Fleet

Current fleet

Air Do Boeing 767-300ER

Template:As of, Air Do operates an all-Boeing fleet composed of the following aircraft:<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Air Do fleet

Aircraft	In service	Orders	Passengers	Notes
Boeing 737-700	8	—	144
Boeing 767-300ER	4	—	288
Total	12	—

Former fleet

Former Air Do Boeing 737-500, in previous Hokkaido International Airlines livery (2010).

Air Do and its predecessor Hokkaido International Airlines has previously operated the following aircraft types:Template:Citation needed

Air Do retired fleet

Aircraft	Total	Introduced	Retired	Notes
Boeing 737-400	2	2005	2009
Boeing 737-500	7	2008	2016
Boeing 767-200	1	2003	2005
Boeing 767-300	4	2005	2022

Frequent-flyer program

Air Do operates a frequent-flyer program called My AIRDO. Points under the program are accrued based on the fare amount when purchasing tickets for travel with the airline, with registration to join the program available for Japanese residents.<ref name="FFP-1">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="FFP-2">Template:Cite web</ref>

External links

• Official website
• Official website Template:In lang