Skymark Airlines Inc., Japan's largest discount carrier, expects to boost profits during the next fiscal year by adding more flights and using Tokyo's Haneda airport as its hub to take on increased competition from three new airlines.
"It'll be better than this year," President Shinichi Nishikubo said in an interview in Tokyo last week, without elaborating. The Tokyo-based carrier has cut its profit forecast for the year ending March 31 by 13 percent because of higher fuel costs.
Skymark is counting on its larger fleet and established brand to help withstand the startups and competition that newcomer Jetstar has predicted will be "brutal." The airline also expects that its hub at Haneda will give it an edge on Jetstar and AirAsia Bhd.'s new ventures, which will fly from Narita in Chiba Prefecture, some 65 km from downtown Tokyo.