The Japanese subsidiary of Chinese low-cost carrier (LCC) Spring Airlines began its Narita-Saga route on Aug. 1. The new route is part of the prefectural government’s efforts to make Saga Airport a hub for LCCs, but the national government recently expressed its intention to deploy several SDF Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft at the airport and allow them to be used on a temporary basis by US Marines re-stationed there from Futenma Air Base in Okinawa. Saga Airport opened in 1998 and has been operating in the red ever since. To remedy the situation, the Prefecture proposed a plan in 2011 to attract LCCs. Spring Airlines launched a Shanghai route in January 2012, and Korean LCC T’way Air began offering Seoul flights last December. If Saga accepts the government’s plan, Prefectural officials will be faced with the issue of whether civilian and military aircraft can coexist at the airport. Source: Nishinippon Shimbun 8/4
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