Japan Airlines All Set to Sign Codeshare Agreement With IndiGo

Japan Airlines, the flag carrier of Japan is all set to announce a codeshare agreement with the largest airline in India, IndiGo. With this agreement, both airlines are eyeing to leverage their networks to enhance passenger numbers. This potential partnership comes just a month after Air India announced a codeshare deal with All Nippon Airways.

Japan Airlines Codesharing with IndiGo

On June 2, both Japan Airlines and IndiGo reached a deal to sell tickets on each other’s flights. Under the codeshare agreement, Japan Airlines will put its IATA code JL on some IndiGo routes, and IndiGo will put its designation 6E on select Japan Airlines routes.

IndiGo will put the 6E code on two international flights of Japan Airlines as follows:

• • Tokyo Haneda to Delhi

• • Tokyo Narita to Bengaluru

Japan Airlines will put its designator code on IndiGo flights from 14 Indian cities. These are Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Kochi, Coimbatore, Thiruvananthapuram, Tiruchirappalli, Pune, Lucknow, Varanasi, and Goa. 

If you do not understand the meaning of anything written above, let me simplify it for you. Here is an example: Imagine a passenger who wants to travel from Aurangabad to Tokyo. He knows that there is no direct flight between both cities. He checks the IndiGo portal and finds out that IndiGo is providing him with a direct flight to Tokyo via Delhi.

On the travel date, with a single PNR, he will be able to travel from Aurangabad to Delhi and then to Tokyo. The domestic flight will be operated by IndiGo, and from Delhi Airport, the passenger will seamlessly continue his journey to Tokyo onboard Japan Airlines.

PS: The situation given above was just an example. The situation was hypothetical.

In future, both carriers will further expand this codeshare agreement. After the pandemic, this will be the first such international partnership for Japan Airlines. For IndiGo, this is the second codeshare partnership in the Asian continent after Malaysia Airlines.

What Happens to Old Vistara Codeshare?

In February 2019, Japan Airlines signed a codeshare agreement with Vistara, a joint venture airline between TATA Group and Singapore International Airlines (SIA). Under this agreement, Japan Airlines was putting its JL code on Vistara flights across seven cities: Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, and Pune.

Soon, this partnership will be scrapped. By the end of this year, Vistara will be merged with Air India. Both Air India and Japan Airlines are members of different alliances. Air India is a member of Star Alliance, and Japan Airlines is a oneWorld member. Hence, to avoid a potential conflict, JAL has chosen a new codeshare partner.

Why IndiGo?

Any international airline looking to partner with Indian carriers for codesharing flights sees IndiGo as one of the first options. One of the major reasons is its immense network, covering more than sixty percent market. In the last financial year, the airline became the first in India to carry 100 million passengers in a single year.

It operates around 2,000 daily flights across more than 100 domestic and international destinations. It has around 1,000 aircraft on order, which means that the growth will not stop. By 2030, it is aiming to double its fleet.

IndiGo and the Indian economy are growing parallelly. According to a forecast from the IMF, the country’s economy will grow by 6.8% in 2024, putting even China and the USA behind. It is expected to overtake Japan to become the fourth-largest economy by 2025.

This partnership comes just months after Air India signed a codeshare deal with All Nippon Airways (ANA). As part of this agreement, Air India will affix its ‘AI’ code on ANA flights connecting Tokyo Haneda with Delhi and Tokyo Narita with Mumbai. Similarly, ANA will include its ‘NH’ IATA code on Air India’s flights linking Tokyo Narita with Delhi.

Executive Comments

Ross Leggett, the Managing Executive Officer and Senior Vice President of Route marketing at Japan Airlines shared his excitement about the new partnership with IndiGo. The extensive network of IndiGo will allow travelers to book their flights on one ticket and enjoy the exceptional service provided by both IndiGo and Japan Airlines.

Conclusion

Days after Air India signed a partnership with All Nippon Airways, IndiGo signed a codeshare deal with Japan Airlines. Both airlines will place their designator codes on the flights of each other to leverage their network. Japan Airlines becomes the first airline in Far East Asia to codeshare with IndiGo.

What do you think about this partnership between IndiGo and Japan Airlines? Discuss in the comment section.