評論
打印
Business
商業
Transport in Japan
日本的交通
Bullet v budget
票戰vs站票
Can low-cost airlines beat bullet trains?
低成本航空公司能擊敗子彈頭列車嗎？
THE world's busiest train route, and one of the busiest air routes, is between Tokyo and Osaka, Japan's two biggest metropolitan areas.
世界上最繁忙的鐵路線和最繁忙的航線之一連接著日本最大的兩個大都市區——東京和大阪。
On that corridor, the shinkansen, as Japan's bullet trains are known, were born in 1964.
（就是）這樣一條通道在1964年見證了如日本子彈頭列車一樣出名的新干線系統的誕生。
They whizz 120,000 passengers a day smoothly from one place to another, on trains that leave every ten minutes.
每10分鐘一班，該系統一天之內可以快速且流暢得將120,000名乘客送抵各自的目的地。
Although humans, not robots, are at the controls, the average delay is a miraculous 36 seconds.
雖然該系統由人而非機器控制，卻可以將平均延遲時間控制在令人不可思議的36秒內。
To take all those passengers by air would require 667 aircraft, each with 180 seats, or five times Japan's fleet of Boeing 737s, estimates Macquarie, an investment bank.
據一家叫做麥格理的投資銀行估算，如果上述乘客改乘飛機，則需動用667架180座的客機，5倍于整個日本的波音737保有量。
Undeterred, between March and August three low-cost airlines will have started operations in Japan.
即便如此，這仍未嚇倒將于3月到8月份在日投入運營的三家低成本航空公司。
It would be a miracle if they could help hammer down train and plane fares in Japan, which are excruciating.
若其能沖擊到日本高的離譜的火車和飛機票價的話，那（無疑）將會是個奇跡。
For example, a one-way shinkansen ticket from Tokyo to Osaka costs ￥14,000 ($170), and there are no discounts for return fares or for booking early.
例如，一張東京到大阪的新干線單程票價為14,000日元（$170），并且往返票和提起訂票均不打折。
But compared with Europe and other parts of Asia, where budget airlines have quickly gained market share, in Japan the low-cost model is expected to take time to take off.
但與被低成本航空公司迅速搶占市場份額的歐洲和其他亞洲國家相比，日本廉價運輸模式的施行還需時日。
There are three main reasons for that, analysts say. First, all three newcomers have established parents.
分析師們認為主要原因有三：一，即將投入運營的三家航空公司均有各自的母公司。
Peach, which started flying in March, and Air Asia Japan, which starts in August, are part-owned by ANA, one of Japan's two main carriers.
分別于3月份和8月份營業的Peach和Air Asia Japan 的股東中均有ANA（日本最大的兩家運輸公司之一）的影子。
Jetstar Japan, which launches operations in July, is one-third owned by Japan Airlines (JAL).
Japan Airlines (JAL)持有Jetstar Japan（將于7月份投入運營）三分之一的股份。
Such ties have usually hobbled low-cost airlines elsewhere: incumbents hate to cannibalise their own business.
像這種關系通常會阻礙其他地方低成本航空公司的的發展：虎毒不食子。
(Australia, where Qantas owns Jetstar, is an exception.) Analysts say the upstarts will thrive only if ANA and JAL step out of their way, letting them shake up the domestic tourist market.
（作為澳洲Jetstar母公司的Qantas除外）分析師們還認為，除非ANA 和 JAL讓出場子，即將登臺的新貴們才有可能在國內旅游市場的舞臺上大顯身手。
The big boys could then concentrate on long-haul and business travel.
也好讓諸位前輩（更好地）專注于長途和商務旅行上面。
Second, the budget airlines may struggle to make similar profits to their lucrative low-cost counterparts in other countries because, despite deregulation, airport costs and fuel taxes in Japan remain among the highest in the world.
其次，與其他國家的同行相比，盡管日本的低成本航空公司不受政府直接管制，但高居世界前列的機場建設費和燃油稅卻使他們難以企及其他國家同行們的高盈利能力。
That could limit expansion, though Jetstar Japan is boldly aiming for 100 aircraft by the end of the decade, up from three at its launch.
即使從3架飛機起家的Jetstar Japan將目標大膽得訂為10年內實現100架飛機保有量，但依然改變不了上述困境限制航空公司擴張的事實。
Third, it will be hard to convince finicky Japanese passengers that low fares make up for the lack of comfort and convenience they are used to.
第三，推行低廉票價難免降低早已被日本民眾所習慣的乘坐舒適和便利程度，然而說服這些挑剔的乘客接受這一點卻并不容易。
Jetstar and Air Asia are using Narita airport as their hub, which is expensive and time-consuming to get to from Tokyo.
兼做Jetstar和Air Asia航空港的成田機場不僅租金昂貴，而且與東京之間的交通不便。
The main carriers use Haneda, which is closer to the capital and cheaper. The shinkansen zoom out of the city centre, with no reservations needed.
主要運輸公司以Haneda作為航空港，該港不僅離首都更近而且租金更便宜，畢竟時時都有新干線列車從Haneda市中心風馳而出。
Miyuki Suzuki, the boss of Jetstar Japan, says her company's strategy is to use low fares to persuade people to make trips they would otherwise not have made at all.
Jetstar Japan的老總Miyuki Suzuki說依她執掌的公司戰略來看，如果票價降低，人們就可能做一些他們以前壓根就不會做的旅行。
More tourists, she hopes, will start visiting Japan's most far-flung islands. She says she will not go head-to-head with the shinkansen (though her airline will fly between Tokyo and Osaka).
她希望有更多的游客光顧偏遠的日本島嶼，并且表示將不會與新干線正面交鋒（雖然該公司也運營東京到大阪的航線）。
Peach and Air Asia Japan have their sights not only on domestic flights but also on the route between Tokyo and Seoul, the nearest foreign capital.
Peach 和Air Asia Japan的業務不僅涉及日本國內航空，還包括一條東京到首爾（離東京最近的外國首都）的航線。
They may be eyeing the East Asian market, where low-cost penetration lags behind the rest of Asia.
并且因為東亞低成本航空業務不及亞洲其他地區，因此他們可能會進軍該市場。
Alas, none of Japan's new budget carriers is expected to be as cut-throat as low-cost carriers elsewhere.
不幸的是，日本沒有一家新的特價航空公司像其他地區的同行一樣極具競爭力。
Ms Suzuki says Jetstar Japan will allow its passengers to book through travel agents, which are still ubiquitous, as well as online.
Suzuki女士說Jetstar Japan的乘客既可以從無處不在的售票中介那里購票，也可以選擇網購。
"This is Japan," she says, with a sympathetic air unusual for a budget-airline boss. "It's not all going to be self-service."
她以一種同行老總很少表露的同情的語氣說道："這是在日本，不是所有的機票都會實自助售賣。"
