NAGOYA: Low-cost carrier AirAsia Japan announced on Monday that it has decided to shut down, finding it hard to continue operations in the face of a plunge in passengers amid the coronavirus epidemic and uncertainty about when the crisis will end.

The Japan unit of Malaysian budget airline group AirAsia has filed with the transport ministry to close all of its flight routes on Dec. 5.

AirAsia Japan, based in Chubu Centrair International Airport near the central Japan city of Nagoya, is the first airline in the country to go out of business due to the impact of the novel coronavirus.

After being launched in July 2014, it operated domestic flights between Centrair and three cities including Sapporo, as well as international flights between Centrair and Taipei.

In the midst of the epidemic, the company suspended all flights from early April. Although it resumed domestic flights in August, it was forced to halt all flights again from the beginning of this month.

AirAsia Japan plans to dismiss its about 270 employees in stages. The company has made a “painful decision,” Representative Director Jun Aida said in a statement, while expressing “our deepest gratitude and appreciation to our loyal guests and other stakeholders who have supported us all along.”

AirAsia flights to and from Japan, excluding those run by the Japan unit, are expected to restart once coronavirus-induced travel restrictions are eased.

JIJI Press