Toki Air was established in July 29, 2020 in order to reconnect regional and remote areas across the country. The company signed a leasing agreement with Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC) for two ATR 72-600s. Additionally, the company also signed a ten-year Global Maintenance Agreement (GMA) with ATR for its two ordered 72-600s. Toki Air also plans to introduce the ATR 42-600S variant which is currently under development by ATR. Toki Air, is expected to have its first ATR 42-600S in early 2025. The purchase of the aircraft will make the company the first Japanese airline to operate this type of aircraft.[5]
Toki Air took delivery of its first ATR 72 on October 10, 2022.[6] The aircraft arrived at its hub at Niigata Airport on November 5, 2022.[7]
The government of Niigata Prefecture extended 1.16 billion yen in financing to Toki on October 31, 2022.[8]
On August 28, 2023, a 66-year-old former employee of Oriental Air Bridge, who was the manager of the safety department, was prosecuted after it was discovered that the employee had illegally downloaded and transferred secret documents from the airline on November 25, 2022. The employee retired from the airline in December 2022 and later joined Toki Air. The employee admitted to the charges and stated that "I took these (the documents), because I thought it would be useful my next company's work." Toki Air stated that they had demoted the employee and reported the incident to the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau. Oriental Air Bridge in an interview stated that there was no impact of flight safety and the airline would work to prevent such incident from happening again.[11][12]
Destinations
As of April 2024, Toki Air currently flies between Niigata and both Sendai and Sapporo Okadama.[13][14][15]
^ ab"「トキエア」札幌・丘珠線 就航 第1便 新潟空港飛び立つ" [“Toki Air” Sapporo-Okadama Line begins service 1st flight takes off from Niigata Airport]. NHK (in Japanese). 31 January 2024. Archived from the original on 4 February 2024. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
^"航空会社ORC元社員 営業秘密不正持ち出し疑いで書類送検" [Former ORC employee sent to prosecutors on suspicion of illegally taking out trade secrets]. NHK (in Japanese). 2023-08-28. Archived from the original on 2023-08-29. Retrieved 2023-09-30.
^"オリエンタルエアの航空保安情報を持ち出しか、元管理職を書類送検…新規参入トキエアに入社" [Former manager sent to prosecutors for taking Oriental Air Bridge's aviation security information...New employee joins Toki Air]. 読売新聞 (in Japanese). 2023-08-28. Archived from the original on 2023-11-09. Retrieved 2023-09-30.