, or HAC, is a regional

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 ...

that operates scheduled services in

Hokkaidō is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

and

Aomori Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region. The prefecture's capital, largest city, and namesake is the city of Aomori. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture on Japan's main island, Honshu, and is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the east, ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

from a main base of operations at

Okadama Airport is an airport located in Okadama-chō, Higashi-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, north of the city center of Sapporo. Its scheduled airline service is limited to turboprop flights to other cities in Hokkaidō; larger aircraft use New Chitose Airport, ...

in Higashi-ku,

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...

.会社概要
" ''Hokkaido Air System''. Retrieved on December 3, 2013. "〒007-0880　札幌市東区丘珠町丘珠空港内" It is a private company controlled by

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 ...

, with 86 employees as of July 2018.

History

The airline was established in 1997, and started operations in 1998. Founded as a joint venture with the Hokkaido government and regional municipalities and businesses, it was an affiliate of

Japan Air System was the smallest of the big three Japanese airlines. In contrast to the other two, JAL and ANA, JAS' international route network was very small, but its domestic network incorporated many smaller airports that were not served by the two larger ...

until that airline consolidated into

. Its headquarters were at one time located in the Terminal Building of

New Chitose Airport is an international airport located south-southeast of Chitose and Tomakomai, Hokkaidō, Japan, serving the Sapporo metropolitan area. By both traffic and land area, it is the largest airport in Hokkaidō. It is adjacent to Chitose Air Base ...

Chitose, Hokkaidō is a city located in Ishikari Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan, and home to the New Chitose Airport, the biggest international airport in Hokkaido and closest airport to Sapporo, as well as the neighboring Chitose Air Base. As of May 1, 2017, the ...

.会社概要
" ''Hokkaido Air System''. Retrieved on May 19, 2009. "本社事務所：千歳市美々新千歳空港ターミナルビル内" HAC's initial routes in 1998 were Chitose-Hakodate, Hakodate-Asahikawa, Hakodate-Kushiro and Asahikawa-Kushiro, followed by Chitose-Kushiro and Hakodate-Memanbetsu in 1999 and Hakodate-Sendai in 2001. It began Okadama service in 2003 with service to Hakodate and Kushiro, for a total of nine routes. HAC also served Monbetsu from Chitose and Okadama in 2005–06.

Air Hokkaido was an airline based in Hakodate, Hokkaidō, Japan.会社案内
" ''Air Hokkaido''. ...

ceased operations on 31 March 2006 and its sole route, Hakodate-Okushiri, was taken over the next day by Hokkaido Air System. HAC left the Japan Airlines group at the end of fiscal year 2010 (March 2011) as part of the corporate restructuring of JAL. JAL retained a 14% stake in the airline, making it the second-largest shareholder after the Hokkaido prefectural government. Japan Airlines ceased ticket handling and reservation services for HAC flights effective September 1, 2011. The Hokkaido prefectural government and various local governments continued to subsidize HAC services to various smaller cities in the prefecture. HAC recorded losses of 296 million yen and had negative equity of 116 million yen in the fiscal year ending March 2013, and took several measures to improve its performance, including resuming codesharing with JAL and starting service from Sapporo to Misawa in July 2013. It was revealed in August 2013 that Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers in the Hokkaido government had been pushing JAL to once again take over HAC. As of December, JAL and the Hokkaido government were reportedly in negotiations to make HAC a subsidiary of JAL, as part of which JAL and Hokkaido government would each pay off half of HAC's excess debt, with the Hokkaido government possibly doing so by cancelling part of its 360 million yen loan claim against the airline. The transaction was announced in October 2014. In October 2016, HAC consolidated its flight numbers and reservations system with the JAL group.

Destinations

Hokkaido Air System operates services to the following destinations:Route Map
" ''Hokkaido Air System''.

Fleet

Current fleet

The Hokkaido Air System fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of October 2022):

Former fleet

References

External links

*

(archive) {{Oneworld Regional airlines of Japan Japan Airlines Japanese companies established in 1997 Airlines established in 1997 Transport in Hokkaido Companies based in Sapporo oneworld affiliate members