Air Do

Is Air Do safe?

Yes. Air Do, branded AIRDO, has carried passengers between Hokkaido and the rest of Japan since December 1998 without a single accident or serious incident in the records of Japan's investigators. Few airlines anywhere have a cleaner record over nearly 30 years. We score it 84, level with Skymark and below All Nippon Airways (87), whose flight numbers many Air Do flights carry. The reason is not what has happened but what Air Do flies: twelve Boeing jets with an average age of just over 20 years.

Is Air Do the same as ANA?

No. Air Do holds its own air operator certificate and flies under its own code, HD, with its own pilots and cabin crew. ANA sells seats on most of its flights as codeshares, which is why a ticket may say NH, but the aircraft, crew and safety record are Air Do's. Under our rules, an event on such a flight would count here, not on ANA's page.

Since October 2022 Air Do and Solaseed Air, a Kyushu airline with a similar ANA link, have belonged to one holding company, Regional Plus Wings. Since October 2024 that company has also run both airlines' maintenance, with 342 engineers seconded from the two, under its own approval from the regulator. The airlines themselves did not merge. Each still publishes its own safety report as a licensed airline, so each keeps its own record.

ANA checks Air Do too. To keep the codeshare, ANA audits Air Do every two years against IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary standards; Air Do's last report said the next audit is due in fiscal 2026. That is a real check, but it is not an IOSA registration, and Air Do is not an IATA member, so we score oversight the same as Skymark and Peach.

How old is the Air Do fleet?

Old by Japanese standards. Air Do's own safety report gives these numbers at 31 March 2026:

The 737-700s were built around 2007 on average and joined Air Do from 2012, so most came second-hand. Both types are older-generation Boeings without fly-by-wireFly-by-wireA flight control system in which the pilot's inputs go to computers, which then move the control surfaces. Many such systems also stop unsafe manoeuvres.More in the glossary controls. Old aircraft are not unsafe in themselves; Japan's maintenance rules are strict, and the 767 has a long record. But the rubric scores age and modern types, and Air Do does poorly on both, so the fleet factor (60) pulls the score down more than anything else. Air Do has said it wants to switch to newer, fuel-efficient aircraft from about fiscal 2027, but we found no firm order.

Has Air Do broken any safety rules?

Yes, mainly on alcohol. On 1 January 2019 a captain drank within 12 hours of a flight, against company rules, flew three flights and then gave the airline a false account; the regulator found it during an inspection. On 14 January the captain, first officer and a trainee of HD130 from New Chitose to Nagoya flew without taking the required alcohol test. On 8 March 2019 the Civil Aviation Bureau gave Air Do a strict warning, one of five airlines warned that day. Air Do then brought in breath testers linked to a central system so ground staff can confirm each test.

In June 2025 a flight crew again failed to carry out the alcohol test properly. Air Do reported it and counted it as a missed safety target, and the regulator took no action in fiscal 2025.

The rest of Air Do's record is routine. It reported 21 "safety troubles" to the regulator in fiscal 2025, or 9.1 per 10,000 flights, such as warning-system faults and TCAS avoidance manoeuvres. In fiscal 2024 five reports were for pre-departure checks made on wrong data, mostly weight and balance mismatches on the 737; none led to an accident, but it is the kind of paperwork error worth watching.

How to fly Air Do safely

Winter is the real test for an airline built on Hokkaido. From December to March snow and ice close runways at New Chitose, Asahikawa, Obihiro and Memanbetsu for hours, and Kushiro is known for sea fog. Expect delays and cancellations. Book an early flight in winter, check Air Do's operations outlook page the night before, and do not plan a tight connection at Haneda on a snowy day.

How we scored it

The accident record (94) is spotless across nearly 28 years, held just below the top band because Air Do is a small airline. Oversight (86) reflects Japan's strong regulator without confirmed IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary. The fleet (60) is the weakest factor: two old types averaging 20 years. Serious incidents (77) carry the 2019 alcohol warning and the 2025 lapse, and environment scores 84 for Hokkaido's winters. Overall 84.