This page is about domestic air travel in Japan. Please check also our pages about discount air tickets and international air travel to Japan.
Airlines
Domestic air travel is dominated by the JAL Group and the ANA Group, which each consist of several airlines and serve over fifty airports across the country. In addition, there are several smaller airline companies competing with JAL and ANA on the country's most popular routes.
JAL Group (Japan Airlines)
The JAL Group consists of JAL Domestic and JAL International, as well as of several smaller airlines including Japan Transocean Air, Ryukyu Air Commuter and others. The JAL Group serves over 50 airports and over 100 domestic routes in Japan.
ANA Group (All Nippon Airways)
The ANA Group consists of All Nippon Airways, as well as several smaller airlines such as Air Nippon. The ANA Group serves about 50 airports and 100 domestic routes in Japan.
Skymark Airlines
Skymark and has the most extensive route network among discount airlines in Japan, and is still expanding. It operates very inexpensive flights from its main bases in Tokyo-Haneda and Kobe. Service on board of the planes is reduced to an absolute minimum (e.g. no complementary drinks).
Route Network: Haneda-Fukuoka, Haneda-Kobe, Haneda-Okinawa, Haneda-Sapporo, Haneda-Kitakyushu, Haneda-Kagoshima, Haneda-Kumamoto, Narita-Asahikawa, Narita-Sapporo, Narita-Okinawa, Ibaraki-Sapporo, Ibaraki-Kobe, Nagoya-Sapporo, Nagoya-Okinawa, Kobe-Okinawa, Kobe-Sapporo, Kobe-Kagoshima, Kobe-Kumamoto, Kobe-Nagasaki, Fukuoka-Okinawa, Okinawa-Miyako, Narita-Fukuoka (from February 2012), Haneda-Kansai (from March 2012), Narita-Kobe (from March 2012), Kansai-Sapporo (from March 2012), Kansai-Okinawa (from March 2012), Narita-Sendai (from April 2012), Sendai-Sapporo (from April 2012), Sendai-Kobe (from July 2012), Sendai-Nagoya (from October 2012)
Air Do
Air Do, also known as Hokkaido International Airlines, operates inexpensive flights from Tokyo's Haneda Airport to various destinations in Hokkaido, and from Sapporo to multiple secondary airports across Honshu. A certain service level is maintained, including complementary drinks.
Route Network: Haneda-Sapporo, Haneda-Asahikawa, Haneda-Hakodate, Haneda-Memanbetsu, Haneda-Obihiro, Sapporo-Sendai, Sapporo-Niigata, Sapporo-Fukushima, Sapporo-Toyama, Sapporo-Komatsu
Solaseed Air (formerly known as Skynet Asia Airways)
Solaseed Air operates inexpensive flights from Tokyo's Haneda Airport to various cities on Kyushu, and from these Kyushu airports to Okinawa. A certain service level is maintained, including complementary drinks.
Route Network: Haneda-Miyazaki, Haneda-Kumamoto, Haneda-Nagasaki, Haneda-Kagoshima, Haneda-Oita, Okinawa-Kagoshima, Okinawa-Nagasaki, Okinawa-Miyazaki, Okinawa-Kumamoto
Fuji Dream Airlines
Fuji Dream Airlines started operation with the opening of Shizuoka Airport in 2009. Besides Shizuoka Airport, the airline also flies out of Matsumoto and Nagoya.
Route Network:
Shizuoka-Sapporo, Shizuoka-Fukuoka, Shizuoka-Kagoshima, Matsumoto-Sapporo, Matsumoto-Fukuoka, Nagoya-Aomori, Nagoya-Iwate, Nagoya-Fukuoka, Nagoya-Kumamoto, Nagoya-Niigata (from March 2012)
Starflyer
Starflyer started operation in 2006 and offers inexpensive flights from Tokyo's Haneda Airport to Fukuoka and Kitakyushu on Kyushu and Osaka's Kansai Airport. Starflyer offers not only inexpensive rates, but also a comfort level that exceeds that of conventional airlines, by offering complementary drinks and an on-demand video system for every passenger.
Route Network: Haneda-Kansai, Haneda-Fukuoka, Haneda-Kitakyushu
IBEX Airlines
IBEX Airlines, formerly known as Fair Inc, operates a small Sendai based network of domestic flight routes. They also serve multiple routes from Tokyo's Narita Airport and Osaka's Itami Airport.
Route Network: Sendai-Sapporo, Sendai-Komatsu, Sendai-Hiroshima, Sendai-Fukuoka, Sendai-Narita, Sendai-Osaka, Sendai-Nagoya, Narita-Komatsu, Narita-Hiroshima, Nagoya-Oita, Osaka-Fukushima, Osaka-Fukuoka, Osaka-Oita
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Airports
Tokyo's Haneda Airport is by far Japan's busiest airport, handling most of the capital's domestic flights. Tokyo's Narita Airport handles mostly international flights and only a very small number of domestic flights.
Osaka's Kansai Airport serves both, international and domestic flights. It took over a large share of traffic (mainly international) formerly handled by Osaka's second airport, Itami Airport. Nevertheless, Itami Airport remains Japan's second busiest hub for domestic air traffic.
Other major airports in Japan include Nagoya's Central Japan Airport, Fukuoka Airport, Sapporo's Shin-Chirose Airport, Kobe Airport and Okinawa's Naha Airport. See a few more important airports on the map below:
Airfare
Thanks to the deregulation of Japan's airline industry and increasing competition from discount airlines, domestic airfares have dropped dramatically in recent years, and airplanes have become an economical, sometimes cheaper alternative to the shinkansen (bullet train) on some routes.
While regular fares remain expensive, it is the many discount offers, which have made domestic air travel in Japan more attractive. A special offer, only available to foreign tourists, are the so called Japan Air Passes, which let you use any domestic flight for a low fixed cost of about 12,000 Yen.
Please visit the Discount Air Ticket page for more details.
Typical one way fares for selected routes are shown in the table below:
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Route
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Airline
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Approx. Regular
One Way Fare
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Typical Discounted
One Way Fare
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Tokyo - Sapporo
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JAL/ANA
Air Do
Skymark
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34,000 yen
26,000 yen
17,000 yen
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12,000 - 31,000 yen
10,000 - 22,000 yen
8,000 - 15,000 yen
|
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Tokyo - Fukuoka
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JAL/ANA
Skymark
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37,000 yen
17,000 yen
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12,000 - 33,000 yen
9,000 - 16,000 yen
|
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Tokyo - Osaka/Kobe
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JAL/ANA
Skymark
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23,000 yen
10,000 yen
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9,000 - 21,000 yen
9,000 - 10,000 yen
|
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Tokyo - Okinawa
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JAL/ANA
Skymark
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41,000 yen
18,000 yen
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13,000 - 37,000 yen
10,000 - 16,000 yen
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Osaka - Sapporo
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JAL/ANA
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41,000 yen
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13,000 - 38,000 yen
|
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Osaka/Kobe - Fukuoka
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JAL/ANA
Skymark
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22,000 yen
12,000 yen
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10,000 - 12,000 yen
6,000 - 10,000 yen
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Osaka/Kobe - Okinawa
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JAL/ANA
Skymark
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34,000 yen
15,000 yen
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12,000 - 31,000 yen
8,000 - 12,000 yen
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Nagoya - Sapporo
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JAL/ANA
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38,000 yen
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13,000 - 34,000 yen
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Nagoya - Fukuoka
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JAL/ANA
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25,000 yen
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11,000 - 23,000 yen
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Nagoya - Okinawa
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JAL/ANA
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39,000 yen
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13,000 - 35,000 yen
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Any Questions? Ask them in our question forum.
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