亞航開拓日本廉價航空業務

Shares in AirAsia, the region’s largest no-frills carrier, and Rakuten, Japan’s biggest online retailer, rose on Thursday on reports that the two had agreed a joint venture to run a low-cost airline in Japan.

週四，亞洲最大的廉價航空公司亞洲航空(AirAsia)與日本最大的在線零售商樂天(Rakuten)股價雙雙上漲，原因是此前有報道稱雙方已同意建立一個合資企業，在日本運營一家廉價航空公司。

For Rakuten, a deal would mark its first foray into the airline business, building on its existing travel agency and extensive database of Japanese consumers acquired through its powerful ecommerce platforms.

對樂天來說，該交易標誌着該公司向航空業的第一次衝鋒。樂天用於這次衝鋒的籌碼，一方面是其現有旅行社，另一方面則是通過其強大的電子商務平臺獲得的有關日本消費者的海量數據庫。

Rakuten runs a range of businesses online including a travel business that offers hotel reservations across Asia.

樂天目前運營着一系列在線業務，其中包括能提供全亞洲旅館預訂的旅遊業務。

A tie-up between the two would be the second attempt by Tony Fernandes, the Malaysian entrepreneur who founded AirAsia, to enter Japan after the failure last year of a venture with ANA, the Japanese carrier.

對於創建亞洲航空的馬來西亞企業家託尼•費爾南德斯(Tony Fernandes)來說，雙方的合作將成爲他進入日本的第二次努力。在此之前，他與日本全日空(ANA)航空公司的合資項目未能取得成功。

The choice of Rakuten would also be a sign that AirAsia is turning to partnerships with businesses not directly involved in the airline industry in a bid to expand regionally, after a series of troubled ventures with other national airlines.

選擇與樂天合作也表明，在與其他國家級航空公司的一系列合資努力遭遇困難之後，亞洲航空正把目光轉向與航空產業無直接聯繫的企業，企圖通過與他們的合作開展區域性擴張。

Both Japan’s Nikkei business daily and the online edition of Toyo Keizai magazine reported that the two had agreed a tie-up.

日本《日經產業新聞》(Nikkei Business Daily)和《東洋經濟》(Toyo Keizai)雜誌網絡版都報道說，雙方已同意建立合資企業。

Nikkei said in its online edition that Mr Fernandes and Hiroshi Mikitani, Rakuten’s chief executive, were set to announce plans to start operations next year, with a stake of up to one-third each in the venture.

《日經產業新聞》網絡版表示，費爾南德斯及樂天首席執行官三木谷浩史(Hiroshi Mikitani)將會公佈該合資公司將於明年開始運營，雙方各自將持有該合資公司最多三分之一的股份。

Rakuten said: “There are articles in the media that Rakuten intends to invest in a certain airline company. The information was not announced by Rakuten and there are no facts to be disclosed at the present time.” AirAsia declined to comment.

樂天表示：“媒體有報道稱樂天打算投資於某航空公司。樂天並未公佈這一消息，目前也沒有任何事實要披露。”亞洲航空對此則拒絕置評。

Shares in Rakuten were up 3.2 per cent at Y1313 on Thursday afternoon, while AirAsia was up 1.4 per cent at Rm2.24.

週四下午樂天股價上漲3.2%至每股1313日元，而亞洲航空則上漲1.4%至每股2.24令吉。

Low-cost carriers are a relatively new phenomenon in Japan but three airlines began budget operations in 2012: Jetstar Japan, a tie-up between the Australian budget airline Jetstar and JAL; Peach Aviation; and AirAsia Japan.

在日本，廉價航空公司相對來說是一個新生事物。不過，2012年日本有三家航空公司啓動了廉價航空業務。這三家航空公司是捷星日本(Jetstar Japan)、樂桃航空(Peach Aviation)和亞航日本(AirAsia Japan)。其中，捷星日本是由澳大利亞廉價航空公司捷星(Jetstar)和日航(JAL)成立的合資公司。而亞航日本正是亞洲航空與全日空的合資項目。

ANA and AirAsia ended their attempted venture after failing to agree on pricing, routes and sales infrastructure. ANA bought AirAsia’s stake in the business and rebranded AirAsia Japan as Vanilla Air last year.

由於全日空和亞洲航空在定價、航線和銷售基建等問題上無法達成一致，雙方終止了這一合資項目。去年，全日空買下了亞航持有的亞航日本股份，並將其改名爲香草航空(Vanilla Air)。