Toki Air

Toki Air, officially TOKI AIR Co., ltd. (トキエア株式会社, Tōke-ea Kabushiki-gaisha), is a Japanese low-cost, regional airline based at Niigata Airport in the city of Niigata, Niigata Prefecture, Japan. The airline was founded on July 29, 2020^[2] and commenced operations on January 31, 2024.^[3][4]

Toki Air
TOKI AIR株式会社
Toki-ea Kabushiki-gaisha

IATA ICAO Call sign BV TOK TOKI AIR
Founded	29 July 2020; 4 years ago (2020-07-29)
Commenced operations	January 31, 2024 [1]
Hubs	Niigata Airport
Fleet size	2
Destinations	4
Parent company	TOKI Aviation Capital
Headquarters	Niigata, Niigata Prefecture, Japan
Key people	Hasegawa Masaki (President)
Website	tokiair.com

History

Toki Air was established in July 29, 2020 in order to reconnect regional and remote areas across the country. The company signed a leasing agreement with Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC) for two ATR 72-600s. Additionally, the company also signed a ten-year Global Maintenance Agreement (GMA) with ATR for its two ordered 72-600s. Toki Air also plans to introduce the ATR 42-600S variant which is currently under development by ATR. Toki Air, is expected to have its first ATR 42-600S in early 2025. The purchase of the aircraft will make the company the first Japanese airline to operate this type of aircraft.^[5]

Toki Air took delivery of its first ATR 72 on October 10, 2022.^[6] The aircraft arrived at its hub at Niigata Airport on November 5, 2022.^[7]

The government of Niigata Prefecture extended 1.16 billion yen in financing to Toki on October 31, 2022.^[8]

Toki formally applied for an air operator's certificate on November 30, 2022, which was approved by the East Japan Civil Aviation Bureau of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism on March 31, 2023.^[9] Toki would be the first new locally-owned Japanese domestic airline in 14 years (after Fuji Dream Airlines).^[10]

On August 28, 2023, a 66-year-old former employee of Oriental Air Bridge, who was the manager of the safety department, was prosecuted after it was discovered that the employee had illegally downloaded and transferred secret documents from the airline on November 25, 2022. The employee retired from the airline in December 2022 and later joined Toki Air. The employee admitted to the charges and stated that "I took these (the documents), because I thought it would be useful my next company's work." Toki Air stated that they had demoted the employee and reported the incident to the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau. Oriental Air Bridge in an interview stated that there was no impact of flight safety and the airline would work to prevent such incident from happening again.^[11][12]

Destinations

Toki Air's check-in counter at Niigata Airport

As of October 2024, Toki Air currently operates flights from Niigata to Nagoya Chubu Centrair, Sendai and Sapporo Okadama.^[13][14][15]

Island	Prefecture	City	Airport	Notes	Refs
Hokkaidō	Hokkaidō	Sapporo	Okadama Airport		[4]
Honshū	Aichi	Tokoname	Chubu Centrair International Airport		[16]
	Chiba	Narita	Narita International Airport	Planned
	Hyōgo	Kobe	Kobe Airport	Planned
	Miyagi	Sendai	Sendai Airport		[17]
	Niigata	Niigata	Niigata Airport	Hub
Sado Island	Niigata	Sado	Sado Airport	Planned

Fleet

JA01QQ, a ATR 72-600 and Toki Air's first aircraft.

The Toki Air fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of September 2024):^[18]

Toki Air Fleet

Aircraft	In Fleet	Orders	Passengers	Notes
ATR 42-600S	—	4	48	Delivery planned in early 2025[19]
ATR 72-600	2	—	72	First aircraft delivered in 2022.[6]
Total	2	4

Toki Air is also one of several airlines advising Heart Aerospace on its proposed ES-30 electric airliner.^[20]

References

1. "新航空会社「トキエア」 新潟ｰ札幌便ついに就航へ". NHK (in Japanese). 2023-12-15. Archived from the original on 2023-12-15. Retrieved 2023-12-26.
2. "法人番号:4010001211244 トキエア株式会社". 法人データ.com. Archived from the original on 2022-10-21. Retrieved 2021-10-12.
3. "Toki Air Schedules Service Debut in late-Jan 2024". Aeroroutes. 26 Jan 2024. Archived from the original on 26 January 2024. Retrieved 29 Jan 2024.
4. "「トキエア」札幌・丘珠線 就航 第１便 新潟空港飛び立つ" [“Toki Air” Sapporo-Okadama Line begins service 1st flight takes off from Niigata Airport]. NHK (in Japanese). 31 January 2024. Archived from the original on 4 February 2024. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
5. "New Japanese airline signs letter of intent with ATR". Japan Today. 2021-11-28. Archived from the original on 2022-10-20. Retrieved 2022-10-20.
6. "Startup Toki Air Takes Delivery of ATR 72-600". Airways Magazine (in Japanese). 10 October 2022. Archived from the original on 6 February 2024. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
7. "トキエア初号機お披露目". Yomiuri Shimbun (in Japanese). 2022-11-06. Archived from the original on 2022-11-10. Retrieved 2022-11-12.
8. "トキエア初号機、新潟県知事6日視察へ 新潟空港5日到着". 日本経済新聞 (in Japanese). 2022-11-04. Archived from the original on 2023-02-06. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
9. 航空運送事業の許可について Archived 2023-09-24 at the Wayback Machine – 国土交通省 令和5年3月31日
10. "トキエア、新潟空港に初のカウンター設置を発表". 日本経済新聞 (in Japanese). 2023-02-06. Archived from the original on 2023-02-06. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
11. "航空会社ORC元社員 営業秘密不正持ち出し疑いで書類送検" [Former ORC employee sent to prosecutors on suspicion of illegally taking out trade secrets]. NHK (in Japanese). 2023-08-28. Archived from the original on 2023-08-29. Retrieved 2023-09-30.
12. "オリエンタルエアの航空保安情報を持ち出しか、元管理職を書類送検…新規参入トキエアに入社" [Former manager sent to prosecutors for taking Oriental Air Bridge's aviation security information...New employee joins Toki Air]. 読売新聞 (in Japanese). 2023-08-28. Archived from the original on 2023-11-09. Retrieved 2023-09-30.
13. "使うのはプロペラ機、新LCC知ってる？来夏に向け準備" (in Japanese). 朝日新聞. 2021-08-02. Archived from the original on 2022-10-19. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
14. "トキエア、11月以降に航空運送事業許可を申請と発表". 日本経済新聞 (in Japanese). 2022-09-21. Archived from the original on 2022-11-30. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
15. "トキエア、中部国際空港・神戸空港に就航打診". 日本経済新聞 (in Japanese). 2022-09-20. Archived from the original on 2022-10-04. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
16. "Toki Air Schedules Niigata – Nagoya Launch in late-Sep 2024". 2024-09-16. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
17. "トキエア、新潟―仙台線を就航 26年ぶり". 日本経済新聞 (in Japanese). 2024-04-26. Retrieved 2024-06-08.
18. "機材・シートマップ" (in Japanese). トキエア. Archived from the original on December 26, 2023. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
19. Tadayuki Yoshikawa (2021-09-07). "ATR、STOL型ATR42-600Sを25年納入開始 佐渡や小笠原視野" (in Japanese). Aviation Wire. Archived from the original on 2022-10-23. Retrieved 2021-10-19.
20. "トキエア・新潟の挑戦まとめ読み 2号機が那覇空港到着". 日本経済新聞 (in Japanese). 2023-01-19. Archived from the original on 2023-02-06. Retrieved 2023-02-06.

External links

• TOKI AIR
• TOKI Aviation Capital