Air Central


Air Central Co., Ltd. was an airline based in Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It operated passenger services as All Nippon Airways flights from its main base is Chūbu Centrair International Airport near Nagoya. On October 1, 2010, Air Central, Air Next and Air Nippon Network were merged and rebranded as ANA Wings.

History

In 1953, Nakanihon Air Service was founded near Nagoya Airport. Its major shareholders included Nagoya Railroad and ANA. Its core business was general aviation, including scenic and charter flights, aerial photography and helicopter services. It still operates as a general aviation company.
A new affiliate company, Nakanihon Airlines, was founded on May 12, 1988, to handle NAS's scheduled commuter services. It was headquartered in Nagoya Airport and was a joint venture between Nagoya Railroad and ANA. Commuter services began operations on 23 April 1991. On November 1, 2004, ANA became the majority shareholder of NAL. As of September 2006, ANA bears 86.7% of the shares of Air Central; and Nagoya Railroad bears 13.3% of its shares.
On February 17, 2005, NAL was renamed to the current name and was relocated to Chubu Centrair International Airport. The flight schedules were amended for convenience of domestic and international flight changeover there. These moves were made for ANA's wish to feed international flights from Centrair operated by ANA and its Star Alliance partners.

Destinations

As of April 2007, Air Central served the following destinations on the Japanese islands of Honshū, Shikoku and Kyūshū.
Between Nagoya-Centrair and:
Tokushima city
Between Osaka International Airport Itami, Ōsaka and:
Between Fukuoka Airport and:
It also operated the Sendai Airport, near Sendai, Miyagi to Narita International Airport route.

Fleet

As of March 2007 the Air Central fleet included: