AirJapan's separate consumer brand stopped at the end of March 2026. Air Japan Co., Ltd., the operating company behind it, did not disappear with that brand. The distinction is the centre of this history: a short-lived standalone offer and a much older company are not the same timeline.
The record below was checked against seven official company and ANA Group sources on 12 November 2026. It does not treat a planned last-flight schedule as proof of every flight actually operated, and it preserves a difference between official suspension-date references.
1990 to 2001: a company existed long before the new brand
The company's own chronology records World Air Network Co., Ltd. being established on 29 June 1990. It records the name changing to Air Japan Co., Ltd. on 5 July 2000 and scheduled international service between Osaka and Seoul beginning on 1 January 2001 with a Boeing 767.
Those dates belong to the operating company's history. They are not the launch dates of the standalone AirJapan passenger brand introduced much later. The current CEO message describes the company's experience operating part of ANA's international network before taking on its own separate brand.
2022: a new brand announcement, not its first flight
On 8 March 2022, ANA Holdings and Air Japan unveiled AirJapan as a new medium-haul international brand. At that point the first commercial flight was planned for the second half of fiscal 2023; exact routes and dates were still under consideration.
The announcement described a concept drawing from both full-service and low-cost models, with customers choosing services. That is the group's stated positioning, not a reason to assume a particular meal, baggage allowance or fare entitlement for every booking. Nor should the March 2022 announcement be rewritten as the day flights began.
9 February 2024: the separate brand starts Narita-Bangkok service
The 2 August 2023 launch announcement set 9 February 2024 for Narita-Bangkok service. A later 24 December 2024 first-anniversary release confirms retrospectively that operations on that route began on that date. The company's chronology independently records the same start.
The historical launch release described a Boeing 787-8 with an all-economy cabin and selectable extras. Those were features of the launch offer, not a description of all current flights operated by Air Japan for ANA. Archived starting fares and promotional conditions are intentionally not offered here as present-day booking advice.
The brand's network also reached Seoul and Singapore. The company chronology and anniversary release differ on the exact February 2024 Seoul start day, so this guide does not choose one without further resolution. The Bangkok launch does not have that conflict in the sources used here.
October 2025: the group announces a different allocation of resources
The 30 October 2025 ANA Holdings announcement said the group would suspend the AirJapan brand and consolidate its aircraft and human resources into ANA-brand operations. It cited a changing global environment, aircraft delivery delays and grounded Boeing 787 aircraft among the pressures behind its allocation decision.
These are the group's stated reasons, not an independently established single cause of failure. Importantly, the same announcement said AirJapan as an operating company would continue flying international services under the ANA brand. It described a move to ANA and Peach as the two brands from fiscal 2026.
That is not a bankruptcy, liquidation or corporate-dissolution notice. Describing it as “AirJapan vanished” would discard the continuing operating-company role stated in the primary record.
March 2026: preserve the official date difference
The October 2025 release listed planned final operation dates of 28 March 2026 for departures from Narita to Seoul, Bangkok and Singapore, with the Bangkok-Narita and Singapore-Narita returns listed for 29 March. The table was explicitly subject to regulatory or government approvals. It is a published plan, not a verified record of the exact last aircraft movement.
As checked on 12 November 2026, ANA's operating-airline guide says AirJapan-brand operations were suspended as of 29 March 2026. The company chronology instead puts the suspension entry on 31 March 2026, while its CEO message says the end of March.
These official references are not identical. This history uses “the end of March 2026” for the broad conclusion, identifies both dated references, and leaves a single exact final operating day unconfirmed. It does not silently relabel a 31 March corporate entry as proof of a flight that day or turn the 2025 schedule into an after-the-event flight log.
The NQ code does not settle which product a ticket represents
A further distinction matters for anyone looking at old travel records. The company's ANA-brand NQ flight page lists flights under that description after the standalone brand suspension. The code alone therefore does not prove that the former standalone AirJapan product is still being sold unchanged.
The page is used here to establish that the code and brand are not interchangeable, not to reproduce a current timetable, fare or service promise. Confirm the actual operating airline and product shown in a current booking. Old AirJapan launch offers do not settle today's baggage, refunds, meals, lounge access or loyalty conditions.
The short version of a two-layer history
The operating company traces its establishment to 1990 and its Air Japan name to 2000. The standalone brand was unveiled in 2022, started Narita-Bangkok service on 9 February 2024 and was suspended at the end of March 2026. The operating company continued under the ANA brand. Exact-day inconsistencies remain visible rather than being smoothed away.
For a new family itinerary, start with the route and support needed now. Private-tour planning can be discussed through the trip-planning page. This history does not offer the suspended standalone brand or promise airline tickets in a TripKeeper package.
Sources and illustration
Checked 12 November 2026. Seven official records below include corporate history, dated launch and strategy releases, a later operations retrospective and current operating-product information. Exact brand suspension day and Seoul launch-day differences are not resolved by assertion. The hero is a fictional AI illustration, not an AirJapan or ANA aircraft, accurate livery, real terminal or final-flight photograph.
- Air Japan corporate chronology and CEO message:1990 company,2000 rename,2001 service,2024 brand,March 2026 suspension and continuing ANA operations
- ANA Holdings release 8 March 2022: new AirJapan brand unveiled, not yet flying
- ANA Holdings release 2 August 2023: planned 9 February 2024 Narita-Bangkok launch
- ANA Holdings release 24 December 2024: retrospective confirmation of 9 February 2024 operations start
- ANA Holdings release 30 October 2025: brand suspension plan, route final-operation schedule subject to approvals, operating company continues
- ANA operating-airline guide: brand suspended as of 29 March 2026, distinct from corporate chronology 31 March entry
- Air Japan ANA-brand NQ flights page: NQ code is not proof that old standalone brand continues
A Miranda House graduate and lawyer who traded courtrooms for slow travel. Cheshta travels with the batches we host ourselves, with a soft spot for travelling alongside elders.
Planning your next trip?
We'll handle insurance, hotels, airport assistance and the itinerary — the same way we do it for every trip.
Questions on this article
asked by readers, answered by us
Was this helpful?
one tap, no sign-up