Here is another inaugural trip report, and as I have said before, Japanese airlines really put great emphasis on these inaugural flights, and these inaugurals are great marketing opportunities. While there are differences between Japanese and American airlines’ inaugural, you can feel the heightened enthusiasm among the Japanese passengers, and there are amply opportunities for photos, and social media will take over the promotional role for these routes, especially among the young travelers, whom Jetstar Japan and major low cost airlines are targeting. I honestly did not expect much because Jetstar Japan was a low cost airline, but was pleasantly surprised with a generous gift bag and a few cool photo opportunities with Jetstar Japan mascot. Frankly, Osaka Kansai to Hong Kong is pretty much a crowded route for both full service airlines (ANA, Air India, and Cathay Pacific) and LCCs (Hong Kong Express and Peach), and I have a bit of reservation on how successful this route will be. But with the low exchange rate, the number of Hong Kong passengers heading to Japan will continue to grow, and it should be okay for now. I am sure Jetstar Japan has its eyes on other regional destinations. Since I flew Peach from Hong Kong to Kansai, I will compare them a bit in terms of these additional services and catering. However, the service on today’s Jetstar Japan inaugural was spectacular because of its nature, and give the CEO was on board, I did not think today’s flight was a typical Jetstar Japan flight. I had compared Air Asia Japan (new defunct but Mark II will return later this year), Jetstar Japan, and Peach previously, and Jetstar Japan was my least favorite. Today’s flight definitely changes my perception but inaugural flight is hardly your usual flight. Anyway let moves on to the real report!
February 28, 2015
GK 61 KIX-HKG Lv0955 Arr1310 Airbus A320-200 Sharklet JA19JJ
Here is the link to the full album:
http://s1213.photobucket.com/user/Ca...GInaugural2015
Jetstar Japan uses the South Concourse in Terminal One, and shares its counters with other Jetstar franchises operating into KIX, including Jetstar Asia and Jetstar Australia. Three counters and one service desk were opened when I arrived two hours prior to departure. There were many staffs around today, especially the supervisor types who are all wearing suits. As usual the check-in agents were efficient and polite. There were two Australian staffs around but mainly took a back seat role. But I appreciate their presence as they were cute (haha) but seriously, I can ask questions with no misunderstanding due to language barrier. When I asked about any special event, I was told that those would be mainly media-related, but there were a few surprises for passengers. As I exited from the check-in area, I received a gift bag, which was a nice gesture. I just loved that cute boarding (first flight) certificate. You can feel that many thoughts are given on the design, and it was not a generic first flight certificate.
Familiar cabin luggage weighing station
There was a flower arrangement on the table (I did not read Japanese but guess that it was actually a gift from another corporation wishing Jetstar Japan’s inaugural flight success.
The crowd began to build up soon… the flight was 100% full this morning.
Going through security was a nightmare here at Terminal One during the morning bank, as most Asian regional flights between eight and noon. I will advice any travelers to allocate at least an hour to go through custom and immigration, especially if you are non-Japanese citizen. Peach uses its own terminal (warehouse is more appropriate) at Kansai, and I sort of miss the smaller crowd over there. However, Terminal one is still better, as most of the restaurants and shops are located here. I ended up being stuck with a Vietnamese tour group, but fortunately the Japanese staffs were very aggressive in the queue control. Immigration was another bottleneck, but the real craziness occurred at the duty free shops, as all these shops were filled with people. I was trying to buy a nice bottle of Japanese whiskey and none was available. The Mainland Chinese tourists are suddenly into Japanese whiskeys now, so they are buying up the stock. I gave up and decided to see the scene at the gate.
Couple planes on the way
Garuda Indonesia Airbus A330-300
Singapore Airlines A330-300
JA19JJ was already getting ready at the gate. It flew in from Narita the previous night, and this plane was one of the newer planes for Jetstar Japan, and was equipped with Sharklet. It was delivered in November 2014.
JA19JJ was getting catered for the new flight.
Finally ready
CEO of Jetstar Japan – Miyuki Suzuki was already here, and she was doing interviews with the press.
Jetstar Japan mascot was of course here today wearing a Chinese themed costume. I believe that Jetstar Japan was the only Jetstar franchise with a mascot. He was really friendly and taking photos with passengers.
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