was a

low-cost airline A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (occasionally referred to as '' no-frills'', ''budget'' or ''discount carrier'' or ''airline'', and abbreviated as ''LCC'') is an airline that is operated with an especially high emphasis on minimizing ope ...

based on the grounds of

Fukuoka Airport , formerly known as Itazuke Air Base, is an international and domestic airport located east of Hakata Station in Hakata-ku, Fukuoka, Japan. Fukuoka Airport is the principal airport on the island of Kyushu and is the fourth busiest passenge ...

Hakata-ku is a ward of the city of Fukuoka in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Many of Fukuoka Prefecture and Fukuoka City's principal government, commercial, retail and entertainment establishments are located in the district. Hakata-ku is also the location o ...

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center ...

Fukuoka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Fukuoka Prefecture has a population of 5,109,323 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,986 km2 (1,925 sq mi). Fukuoka Prefecture borders Saga Prefecture to the southwest, Kumamo ...

, Japan and a wholly owned subsidiary of

All Nippon Airways , also known as ANA (''Ē-enu-ē'') or is an airline in Japan. Its headquarters are located in Shiodome City Center in the Shiodome area of Minato ward of Tokyo. It operates services to both domestic and international destinations and had m ...

(ANA). It operated domestic services from its main base at Fukuoka Airport. On October 1, 2010, Air Next, Air Central and Air Nippon Network were merged and rebranded as

ANA Wings ANA Wings Co.,Ltd. (ANAウイングス株式会社 ''ANA Uingusu Kabushiki Kaisha'') is a regional airline with its corporate headquarters at Itami Airport near Osaka, Japan and a wholly owned subsidiary of All Nippon Airways , also known ...

History

The airline was established in August 2004 and its first flight was on June 1, 2005 with a pair of

Boeing 737-500 The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft. Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Februa ...

aircraft. Air Next received two more 737s by the end of 2006 and another three in 2007, bringing their fleet to a total of seven aircraft. In February 2005 Air Next was headquartered in Minato,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

. Air Next aircraft carried ANA livery with the name "Air Next" in small letters on the fuselage and a

dolphin A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (t ...

painted on each engine. Flights were operated with ANA/NH flight numbers, although Air Next had its own airline codes.

Destinations

- Komatsu *Fukuoka - Ishigaki *

Naha is the capital city of Okinawa Prefecture, the southernmost prefecture of Japan. As of 1 June 2019, the city has an estimated population of 317,405 and a population density of 7,939 persons per km2 (20,562 persons per sq. mi.). The total area i ...

- Miyako *Naha - Ishigaki

Fleet

As of December 2009, the Air Next fleet included the following aircraft:

References

External links

Air Next
* {{Airlines of Japan Defunct airlines of Japan All Nippon Airways Airlines established in 2004 Airlines disestablished in 2010 Fukuoka Companies based in Fukuoka Prefecture Former Star Alliance affiliate members Japanese companies established in 2004 Japanese companies disestablished in 2010