The partnership was officially announced in Tokyo with Alliance Airlines chief executive Lee Schofield and JTB World Vacations president Toru Ikuta on Wednesday.
The first flights under the deal is due to take place in April, where JTB customers will be taken on a day trip to visit Uluru.
Lee Schofield, CEO of Alliance Airlines, in Tokyo for the JTB and Tourism Australia announcement said, “Alliance is excited about the opportunity to work with one of the world’s great travel companies.
“The partnership will allow JTB to develop a range of tours throughout Australia visiting some wonderful and unique destinations in every state,” Schofield said in a statement.
“The tours will range from one-day opportunities such as visiting Uluru to multi-day tours visiting major tourist attractions and cities throughout Australia.
“We look forward to working with JTB over the contract term to significantly increase the range of products available and promote Australia to Japan as a unique holiday destination.”
The initiative is Alliance Airlines’ latest effort to broaden its operations from fly-in/fly-out (FIFO) work to boost revenue in areas such as tourism, aircraft sales, wet and dry leasing and spare parts sales.
In 2017, the airline commenced regular public transport services (RPT) from Brisbane to Bundaberg, Gladstone and Port Macquarie with Fokker 70 regional jets which are sold Virgin Australia codeshare services.
Meanwhile, Alliance and Virgin received Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) approval in May 2017 to work together in the charter and (FIFO) market, allowing for the joint tendering for corporate FIFO contracts, as well as cooperating on aircraft maintenance, procurement of aircraft and parts, parts pooling, airport operations, airport handling, check-in, frequent flyer programs, lounge access, scheduling, pricing, sales and marketing and service policies.
And from March 2018 Alliance will operate three Newcastle-Adelaide nonstop flights a week on behalf of FlyPelican.
And previously, Alliance secured a four-year contract to operate aircraft in Australia and New Zealand for US-based tour operator Tauck.
