Will budget airlines help economy take off?
The growing number of low-cost carriers (LCCs) in Asia in recent years is putting pressure on Japan to reform its commercial aviation system.
Two South Korean LCCs have expanded their routes to include service to and from Japan this year, following similar moves by Chinese and Malaysian low-fare airlines last year. Another South Korean LCC is set to start service to Japan in mid-July. Clearly, Asian LCC operators are striving to secure significant shares of the Japanese airline market.
The booming LCC business is the tide of the times everywhere in the world. For instance, LCC passengers account for 30 percent to 40 percent of air travelers in the United States and Europe. The LCC industry is also one of the most rapidly expanding businesses in Asia.
LCC airlines have employed every possible means to reduce their operational costs. Their cost-cutting measures include using a single model of small aircraft to minimize maintenance time and shorten airport stays. Money saved through such steps makes it possible to lower fares.
Last year, a Chinese LCC drew a great deal of public attention with its extremely low fares, including 4,000 yen tickets on its Shanghai-Ibaraki route.
One important factor behind the popularity of LCCs is that such airlines are required to abide by safety standards comparable to those followed by major carriers.
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Meeting Japanese standards
LCCs are viewed with disdain by some Japanese who place greater importance on quality service than on fares, a factor that may explain why domestic airlines are operating at high costs and their high fares are generally accepted.
However, it should be noted that the growth of LCCs could rejuvenate Japan's airline industry if the fact that their entry into the market offers more options for consumers is taken into consideration.
Peach Aviation--a new LCC funded by All Nippon Airways and other entities--is preparing to go into service as Japan's first LCC next spring. Meanwhile, Japan Airlines is considering joining hands with an Australian carrier to enter the LCC market. We find it commendable that domestic airlines are finally trying to compete with Asian LCCs.
Peach has come out with an unusual business strategy that could change the popular image of airlines. For example, the new LCC is planning to adopt an aircraft model with an unconventional design on its fuselage and casual uniforms for its crew members.
Peach will be headquartered at Kansai Airport, from which it will begin serving routes to and from Sapporo and Fukuoka in March, and Incheon, South Korea, in May. The new LCC carrier hopes to target young people as its main customers by setting their fares at about half of those charged by major airlines.
There has been a rapid decline in the number of foreign visitors to Japan due to the ongoing nuclear crisis. However, there is great demand in Asian countries for flight services to foreign destinations as their economies continue to grow.
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LCCs must be encouraged
Taking advantage of its Asian neighbors' economic vitality is certain to give fresh impetus to Japan's efforts to reinvigorate its own economy. Given this, the government must encourage the domestic LCC business and improve its preparedness to serve low-fare airlines. Doing so will be essential in reworking the government's post-quake growth strategy.
Another important issue is the degree to which a major carrier should be involved in operations at an LCC in which it has stake. One foreign LCC has failed as a result of excessive interference in its business administration by a major airline.
With this in mind, Peach needs to limit ANA's presence as much as possible in its business operation while also securing the safety of its flight services. This must be complemented by efforts to attract customers through its own fee system and flight routes.
Expanding the LCC business requires the support of government offices in charge of civil aviation. We hope the government will provide the LCC industry with various forms of support, including an increase in the number of arrival and departure slots. Assistance measures should also include efforts to ensure airport and navigation service fees, as well as landing fees and aircraft fuel taxes, are set at lower levels.
The operator of Kansai Airport has improved its business through a reduction in its landing fees and other forms of preferential treatment for airlines. A terminal exclusively for LCCs will also be built at the Kansai facility.
Asian hub airports are competing to see which one can draw the most LCCs to their facilities. Japan must not fall behind in this race.
Teachers must upgrade their Internet skills
The ability to gather and properly assess information online has become indispensable to modern-day daily life.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development recently published the results of a first-of-its-kind survey to test the digital literacy of 15-year-olds who have completed compulsory education. The survey was conducted under the 2009 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA).
The average score of Japanese students stood at 519 points, ranking fourth among 19 countries and territories that took part in the program. Japan fell behind first-ranking South Korea by 49 points but exceeded the OECD average by 20 points. We are relieved to know that the digital literacy of Japanese students is relatively high by international standards.
All the questions in the test were given on personal computers. The students were tested on their ability to find necessary information from relevant Web sites and present answers in their own words online.
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Book reading vital
It is interesting to find that Japanese students who use PCs at school scored higher than those who do not, but this does not necessarily mean that the longer they used PCs the higher their scores became.
The survey also found that students who read books more scored higher than those who read less.
This indicates the importance of sufficient book-reading time to cultivate comprehension ability without relying on the haphazard use of computers. It is necessary for schools to work out curriculums by first clarifying which subjects should be learned through computer use.
Following in the footsteps of Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, an increasing number of local governments are promoting computer-based education.
In middle school social studies classes, for example, students investigate local industrial policies through the prefectural government's Web site and exchange opinions with students at other schools through electronic bulletin boards.
The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry should collect as many examples of such online class activities as possible to make them widely available online for schools.
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Improve online teaching ability
In an education ministry survey of teachers at all public schools, 30 percent said they "have no ability to teach students to gather information through the use of computers and identify the best information from what they find."
Teachers' computer-based teaching abilities are in urgent need of improvement.
We live in an era in which science and technology are constantly developing. In addition to conveying existing knowledge, it is essential to teach children how to acquire the latest information, such as via the Internet.
Thus, teachers must make constant efforts to develop their teaching methods during their training at university and through participation in various seminars inside and outside school as they progress through their teaching careers.
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