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is a low-cost airline headquartered at Haneda Airport in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan,〔 operating scheduled passenger services within Japan. In addition to its base at Haneda, Skymark is the dominant carrier at Kobe Airport〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.city.kobe.lg.jp/life/access/airport/img/HP23.5.pdf )〕 and is the only domestic airline operating at Ibaraki Airport north of Tokyo. Skymark was the first low-cost carrier established in Japan and is the only carrier offering domestic flights at Haneda Airport in competition with the duopoly of All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines. Internet entrepreneur Shinichi Nishikubo controlled the company from 2003 to 2015, when the carrier filed for bankruptcy protection after attempting a fleet and service expansion. It remains the largest independent airline in Japan and the only independent low-cost carrier, as the other low-cost carriers in Japan are controlled by either ANA or JAL. In August 2015, Skymark creditors agreed to restructure the airline under the control of investment fund Integral Corporation, with minority investments from All Nippon Airways, Korean Air, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and the Development Bank of Japan. == History == Skymark Airlines was established in November 1996 as an independent domestic airline after deregulation of the Japanese airline industry and started operations on 19 September 1998.〔 It was originally owned by a consortium of investors led by the travel agency H.I.S. and headed by H.I.S. president Hideo Sawada; another major early investor was the leasing company Orix. Its initial business plan called for it to be headquartered at Itami Airport in Osaka. Takashi Ide, former head of British Airways' operation in Japan, was hired as the company's CEO in 1998. Skymark was able to obtain six slots at Haneda Airport in Tokyo in March 1997 and moved its headquarters to the Hamamatsucho district of Tokyo in March 1998. Its first scheduled flight from Haneda to Fukuoka was on September 19, 1998; it added routes from Itami to Fukuoka and Sapporo in 1999, but suspended these routes in 2000 in order to offer more frequencies on the Haneda-Fukuoka route.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.skymark.co.jp/ja/company/co_history.html )〕 In 2002, Skymark took delivery of a third Boeing 767 aircraft and began service on the Haneda-Kagoshima route, as well as charter service from Haneda to Seoul. In 2003, with a fourth 767 dry-leased from All Nippon Airways, it began service to Aomori and Tokushima.〔 The airline incurred considerable losses in its first few years of operations. It briefly considered a recapitalization led by Commerzbank but decided not to accept such an investment due to Air Do's issues with banks interfering in management. In August 2003, Sawada invited internet entrepreneur Shinichi Nishikubo to become Skymark's largest shareholder with a personal cash investment of 3.5 billion yen (having made around 9 billion yen from the IPO of his internet company in 2000).〔 Nishikubo took over as CEO in 2004, maintaining Ide as a "co-pilot" due to Ide's experience in the aviation industry.〔 On 11 December 2003, Skymark announced that it expected a profit of 470 million yen for the half-fiscal year ending on 31 October, the first profit made since the airline began operations. By using more efficient aircraft and systems developed in-house, Skymark attempted to undercut JAL and ANA on costs in order to offer lower fares. Skymark had a code sharing partnership with Japan Airlines starting with a Haneda-Osaka Kansai service in 2005-06,〔 and later on the Tokyo Haneda-Kobe route from Kobe Airport's opening in 2006. JAL withdrew from Kobe in 2010, while Skymark developed Kobe into a secondary base. Skymark purchased the naming rights for the Kobe Sports Park Baseball Stadium from 2005 to 2010. Skymark announced in April 2010 that it would commence a "Narita Shuttle" service from Narita International Airport to Asahikawa, Sapporo, Fukuoka, and Okinawa in late 2011 and early 2012. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Skymark Airlines」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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