Airport News Japan

Skymark Suspends Ibaraki-Kobe Route - “Shared Airport” with SDF Creates Bottleneck

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The Skymark's inaugural flight from Kobe Airport in April.

On June 24, Skymark Airlines Inc. (based at Haneda Airport 1, Ohta Ward) announced that it will suspend its Ibaraki-Kobe route as of September. The route was opened in April and currently has one daily roundtrip flight.

According to Skymark, the airline failed to make a profit due to regular maintenance costs and other factors, even though the route’s flights flew at above the predicted 75% capacity in April and May. The carrier had hoped to achieve profitability by operating three or more flights. However, the airport is shared with the Self-Defense Forces (SDF), which confirmed that it would impose flight restrictions due to demands for schedule changes and flight cancellations. Skymark stated, “We are unable to operate regular flights, so we have decided to suspend the route until the scheme for civilian cooperation between Ibaraki Airport and the SDF is revised.”

Due to the suspension, Ibaraki Airport’s only regular flight will be the one daily roundtrip flight to Seoul by Korean carrier Asiana Airlines, Inc. There are now no domestic flights.

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