ANA to discount Hokkaido fares

All Nippon Airways Co. will offer discount fares on winter flights between Hokkaido and Tokyo, Osaka or Nagoya starting Oct. 1, the carrier announced Thursday.

The carrier filed an application with the Transport Ministry earlier in the day to discount fares from 15 percent to 40 percent. The discounts will apply to the first flights from the three major cities to six cities in Hokkaido, and the last flights from Hokkaido to the mainland.

The proposed discounts will be applied to some seats on 34 flights on 13 routes between Oct. 1 and the end of March, a carrier spokesman said. The average discount on a one-way basis is 4,500 yen, the spokesman said. The discount is aimed at passing on to customers a windfall gain from the planned reduction of airport fees at Asahikawa and Memanbetsu airports in Hokkaido, the spokesman said.

Also, the reductions seek to help Hokkaido, which has been suffering from an economic slump after the failure of the prefecture's major bank last year.

The cut in airport fees will bring an estimated 300 million yen gain to the carrier, while the discount fares will cause a 1 billion yen loss if the number of passengers remains the same as last winter's. ANA hopes to increase the number of passengers to cover a 700 million yen loss, the spokesman said.