AirAsia Japan will launch during the third quarter of this year Tony Fernandes has said, marking the airline’s second attempt to enter the Japanese low-cost carrier market. “I was just in Nagoya. It looks…we don’t control the regulators but it’s looking good, feeling good. I’m really feeling good about AirAsia Japan,” he told reporters after AirAsia Bhd’s 23rd Annual General Meeting (AGM).

The AirAsia Group founder and CEO’s comments come against the backdrop of several reports in the Japanese media that claim the LCC start-up, though having secured its AOC in October last year, has yet to complete its maintenance and operational preparedness certifications.

AirAsia first made its entry in Japan through a joint-venture (JV) with All Nippon Airways (ANA) in 2012. However, the partnership between the two airlines fell apart a year after its first entry due to differences in management styles. AirAsia entered into a new JV with Rakuten Inc, Octave Japan Infrastructure Fund I GK, Noevir Holdings Co. Ltd and Alpen Co. Ltd in July 2014 to establish AirAsia Japan.

The airline plans to fly to Narita International Airport and the start-up currently has a pair of A320-200s in its fleet which will be used to connect Nagoya Chubu, Sapporo Chitose, Sendai, and Taipei Taoyuan once operations eventually launch.