Airbus Breaches Japanese Market With Skymark A380s

Airbus SAS won a firm order from Skymark Airlines Inc. for four A380 superjumbos, giving the European planemaker a toehold in a national market that’s been largely closed to it for decades.

Skymark, a discount competitor to Japan’s biggest carriers, Japan Airlines Corp. and All Nippon Airways Co., will use the double-decker Airbus to connect Tokyo with London, Paris and Frankfurt, Chief Executive Officer Shinichi Nishikubo said in an exclusive interview in Toulouse, France.