Originally Posted by
Goldorak
I think KIX is a kind of special case. It is certainly not a destination praised by millenials
, but KIX is an airport with very high landing fees, impairing the viability of many routes. Many airlines have dropped KIX over the last 10 years because of this. So maybe AF has KIX in mind for Joon, due to the slightly lower operating costs. But, if the case, I believe it's a big mistake. KIX is a business-heavy destination and AF has a very well-established brand in Japan and so it would be stupid to move their Japan flights to Joon IMHO...
Indeed, AF is a well-established brand in Japan.
It has reduced its operations to 10 weekly to HND, 7 weekly to NRT and 5 weekly to KIX.
KIX has (at least) three types of market attractions. First, a huge market from the populous and wealthy Kansai region. Second, a big business market centered around Osaka. Third, the attraction of Kyoto/Nara to French tourists (tour operators often sell entering in Tokyo and leaving from Osaka or vice versa).
It would be silly to get Joon to KIX. But this is just discussing hearsay speculation. I would asume that every single AF route has been considered for Joon. The end result is still very uncertain, and will in part depend on maximum utilization of a very few ac.