Hot on the heels of its first international flight in the Philippines from Manila to Tokyo, Jetstar Japan’s latest service bound for Chubu Airport in Nagoya took to the skies today with a full flight of 180 on board.

As the only Japanese low-fares carrier operating a direct route from Manila to Nagoya, Jetstar Japan will operate up to seven services a week between the Philippines capital and Japan’s third largest city. The inaugural flight departed in the morning at 1.05 am and has arrived in Nagoya at 5.55am.

Jetstar Japan is currently the only Japanese low fares carrier operating in the Philippines and the new service offers more than 30,000 new seats annually on the route with return fares between Manila and Nagoya available from PHP4840.

Chairman of Jetstar Japan, Mr Masaru Kataoka, who was in Manila recently, said that the new service has introduced the first-ever low-fares options to travellers on the Manila-Nagoya route.

“Nagoya is home to the largest number of Filipinos in Japan and this service will be welcome news for family and friends of Filipinos who will now be able to travel and visit more often.

There are currently more than 220,000 Filipinos residing in Japan, forming the country’s third largest overseas community. Nagoya is the capital of Aichi prefecture, which alone is home to some 30,000 Filipinos.

“Our flight timings will also offer Filipino travellers more time at their destination and the benefit of extending their visit from morning to night,” said Mr Kataoka.

“Our bookings have been very encouraging since we announced that seats were on sale and we are confident that our entry to the market will grow overall passenger numbers in both directions.

“We anticipate a boost to the tourism industry in both cities as the new service will attract new travellers to explore more of Nagoya and its rich cultural history like the castle town of Owari, Nagoya Castle, Atsuta Shinto Shrine and Tokugawa Art Museum, amongst other attractions.

“As the largest low fares carrier in Japan, our customers can also now fly to Nagoya and connect to other domestic destinations in Japan through its dense domestic network,” Mr Kataoka added.

Jetstar Japan recently operated its first flights from Manila to Tokyo-Narita on 15 March and will introduce complementary services to Osaka – a service that is currently operated by sister airline, Jetstar Asia – from 7 April onwards.

Boasting the largest fleet of 20 aircraft amongst LCCs in Japan, Jetstar Japan is the only LCC that flies directly to Japan’s three major cities of Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. In terms of network, Japan’s largest LCC with more than 50% of the market share offers the largest number of domestic routes amongst Japan’s low-fares airlines.

The airline has carried close to 13 million passengers since its launch in 2012.

Jetstar Japan currently operates up to 100 services a day and flies to 11 domestic destinations in Japan and three international destinations, including Manila.

Manila is the latest international destination added to Jetstar Japan’s roster after the launch of services to Hong Kong and Taipei in 2015.

The new return services are operated on Jetstar Japan’s 180-seat Airbus A320, with a flight time of just under five hours.

One-way economy starter fares from Manila start from PHP4840.