More 737 MAXs for Skymark
May 25, 2025
The deal follows a 2022 commitment for four 737 MAX aircraft with options for two more. Skymark has said that the first of the newly-ordered 737s will be delivered from 2030.
Skymark Airlines is headquartered at Haneda Airport, Ōta, in Tokyo, and currently operates a fleet of 29 Boeing 737-800s from its bases at Haneda Airport, Kobe Airport and Naha Airport. It is the only Japanese airline offering scheduled services from Ibaraki Airport north of Tokyo.
Skymark was Japan’s first low-cost airline and was founded in November 1996 as an independent domestic airline after the deregulation of the Japanese airline industry. Skymark started operations on 19 September 1998, with a service from Haneda to Fukuoka.
The airline incurred considerable losses in its first few years of operations, and was bailed out by internet entrepreneur Shinichi Nishikubo controlled the company from 2003 to 2015, when the carrier filed for bankruptcy protection.
Skymark shifted to a premium service from 2010–2014, and ordered four Airbus A380 aircraft and two options, though these were subsequently cancelled. Skymark’s A330 services also failed to achieve the expected load factors and the type was withdrawn in March 2015.
Skymark was restructured in August 2015, saving it from bankruptcy, and its finances improved quickly, allowing a useful network expansion.
International charter flights from Narita to Saipan and Palau began in June 2018, and the flights to Saipan subsequently became scheduled flights in late 2019, but the Saipan route fell victim to COVID, and Skymark has said that it has no plans to resume scheduled international services before 2026.
Skymark is currently operating a fleet of 29 Boeing 737-800s, and announced firm orders for four Boeing 737 MAX aircraft (two 737 MAX 8s and two 737 MAX 10s) In January 2023, as well as options to purchase one more of each, with a plan to lease six more MAX 8s. These were expected to enter service between 2025 and 2027.
The latest order will increase the number of 737 MAXs on order with Boeing to eight B737-8s and two B737-10s, plus the two options. The airline will take delivery of its first MAX in 2030.
