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Report: All Nippon Airways eyes launch of 2 discount carriers next year

TOKYO, Sept 9 (UNI)

All Nippon Airways is considering launching two discount carriers — one domestic and another offering international services — next year amid intensifying competition from other low-cost airlines, a major newspaper reported Saturday.

ANA, Japan’s No. 2 carrier, plans to launch the new airlines in the first half of 2007 as subsidiaries specializing in discount airfares, through cost cutting of in-flight services, the Yomiuri said, without citing sources.

The plan comes ahead of the scheduled 2009 completion of a fourth runway at Tokyo’s Haneda international airport, where the number of flights are expected to increase by 40 percent, including short-distance international flights, the report said.

It was unclear whether ANA will launch the low-cost carriers by reorganizing its subsidiaries or establishing new entities in Southeast Asia, where labor costs are cheaper, the Yomiuri said.

India, parts of China and the Gulf region could be possible destinations.