is an

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines for ...

based in

Amakusa , which means "Heaven's Grass," is a series of islands off the west coast of Kyushu, the southernmost of the four main islands of Japan. Geography The largest island of the Amakusa group is Shimoshima, which is 26.5 miles long and 13.5 mi ...

Kumamoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture to ...

, Japan. It operates regional services from and to Amakusa. Its main base is

Amakusa Airfield is an airport located northwest of Amakusa, Kumamoto, Japan, on the Amakusa Islands . Locals often refer to the airfield as Amakusa Airport. It is located on the northern side of the Amakusa Islands, north west of Amakusa city. Only one airlin ...

, with a focus city in

Kumamoto Airport , also known as , is an airport in Mashiki, Kumamoto, Japan. History The first Kumamoto Airport opened in 1960 on the site of a former Imperial Japanese Army air base and had a 1,200 m runway. It was replaced by the current Kumamoto Airport i ...

History

The airline was established on 12 October 1998 and started operations on 23 March 2000, with services from Amakusa to Fukuoka and Kumamoto. It is owned by the municipal government (80% stake) and

Japan Airlines , also known as JAL (''Jaru'') or , is an international airline and Japan's flag carrier and largest airline as of 2021 and 2022, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its main hubs are Tokyo's Narita International Airport and Haneda Airport, as w ...

. On 1 October 2004, it began service between Kumamoto and Matsuyama. On 18 April 2006, it cumulatively carried over 50,000 passengers. On 1 September 2008, it stopped the service between Kumamoto and Matsuyama. Three days later, on 4 September, it began the service between Kumamoto and Kobe. On 31 March 2010, it stopped the service between Kumamoto and Kobe. In 2015, Amakusa has been reported that the fleet with 1 of 2

ATR 42-600 The ATR 42 is a regional airliner produced by Franco-Italian manufacturer ATR, with final assembly in Toulouse, France. On 4 November 1981, the aircraft was launched with ATR, as a joint venture between French Aérospatiale (now Airbus) and A ...

has been delivered with another 3 options while the

Dash 8 The De Havilland Canada DHC-8, commonly known as the Dash 8, is a series of turboprop-powered regional airliners, introduced by de Havilland Canada (DHC) in 1984. DHC was later bought by Boeing in 1988, then by Bombardier in 1992; then by ...

has been transferred to

Oriental Air Bridge is an airline headquartered on the grounds of Nagasaki Airport and in Ōmura, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It operates in southern Japan, offering charter services and a scheduled service between Nagasaki and Fukuoka. Its main base is Nagasaki Airp ...

. Amakusa in the future can fly between Amakusa and Kagoshima, Amakusa and Miyazaki, Amakusa and Kochi, Oita and Osaka, Fukuoka and Osaka, Hiroshima and Osaka as well as Fukuoka and Tsushima.

Destinations

Amakusa Airlines serves the following destinations ():

Fleet

Current fleet

AMX-Bombardier Dash 8-103-JA81AM-Fukuoka airport-20040806-145008

The Amakusa Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of August 2019): In August 2015, the airline received its first of two

ATR 42 The ATR 42 is a regional airliner produced by Franco-Italian manufacturer ATR, with final assembly in Toulouse, France. On 4 November 1981, the aircraft was launched with ATR, as a joint venture between French Aérospatiale (now Airbus) and ...

-600 (48 seats) to replace the smaller Dash 8.

Former fleet

Amakusa Airlines has also operated the following aircraft in the past:

References

External links

Amakusa Airlines
{{Authority control Regional airlines of Japan Airlines established in 1998 Japanese companies established in 1998 Transport in Kumamoto Prefecture