The new Kitakyushu Airport, under construction in southern Japan, is launching a major drive to secure airline operators ahead of its opening, slated for March 2006.

The move comes as the New Kitakyushu Airport prepares to host the Second Annual North Asia Low Cost Airline Symposium on August 4-5, 2005, convened by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. Government bodies, aviation organizations, airlines, airports and suppliers will attend this landmark event which is expected to attract several hundred delegates.

As part of its Route Development and Marketing initiative, airport officials will meet with airline delegations from across North Asia, including several low cost start-up carriers, planning new domestic and international routes to Southern Japan. There is potential for very high growth levels of short haul point-to-point air services between Japan, South Korea and China.

The Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport recently provided a major boost to the New Kitakyushu Airport by authorizing it to operate for 21 consecutive hours from 5:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m., facilitating late night passenger and freight services into and out of the offshore airport. The new airport offers a 2,500 meter runway, capable of servicing a broad range of aircraft types including A320s and B737NGs favored by low cost operators.

Start-up airline, Starflyer, will be based at the airport and plans to operate early morning services out of New Kitakyushu to Tokyo.

The North Asia Low Cost Airline Symposium program has now been finalized and includes the following keynote speakers:

• America West Airlines co-founder and former President, Michael Roach,
• Partner Roach & Sbarra Airline Consulting
• Association of Asia Pacific Airlines Andrew Herdman, Director General
• Seaport & Airport Bureau City of Kitakyushu Norihiko Yamagata, Director General

Also speaking will be:

• Japan Airlines Hideyuki Kanenari, Senior Executive Officer, Marketing Strategy & Research;
• Japan Civil Aviation Bureau Koji Takahashi, Deputy Director of Planning and Research, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transportation;
• Jeju Air Sang-Kil Joo, President;
• PATA John Koldowski, Managing Director, Strategic Intelligence Centre;
• Star Flyer Inc Yasushi Muto, Executive Director;
• United Airlines Sandra Chiu, Director of International Affairs;
• China Southern Airlines Mr. Li Kun, Chief Operating Officer;
• Asian Institute of Technology Professor Dr Shinya Hanaoka, School of Civil Engineering;
• BilltoBill Martijn Hovinga, CEO;
• Boeing (speaker tba);
• Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation Timothy Ross, Senior Associate, Financial Analysis;
• Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation Peter Harbison, Managing Director;
• Clark Air Base Victor Jose I. Luciano, Executive Vice President;
• Intermodal Inc Reiko Sonoyama, Director;
• Korean Transport Institute Kim Yeon Myung, Director of Aviation Department;
• Macau Eagle Aviation Services (WOW!Macau) Andrew Pyne, CEO;
• Macau International Airport John Chan Wei Leong, Executive Director;
• OAG Mario Hardy, Business Development Director.