Spring Japan

Is Spring Japan safe?

Yes. Spring Japan has flown since 2014 without a fatal accident or the loss of an aircraft, under Japan's demanding regulator. We score it 84, one point above its parent Japan Airlines (83) and two points below its JAL sister ZIPAIR (86). The points it loses come from three things: a short record with very few aircraft, a 2025 regulator warning over a captain who hid that he had been drinking, and a fleet of six older-generation Boeing 737-800s with no replacement chosen yet.

The airline started as Spring Airlines Japan, a Japanese venture of China's Spring Airlines. It now belongs to the JAL group, has its own Japanese air operator certificate and code (IJ), and flies mainly from Tokyo Narita to Sapporo, Hiroshima, Saga and seven cities in China; Hakodate and a first route to Chubu followed in 2026. Its record is scored here on its own; nothing that happens at Spring Airlines in Shanghai counts on this page.

What accidents has Spring Japan had?

One, and nobody on the passenger side was hurt. On 22 October 2017 a 737-800 from Narita to Saga hit severe turbulence while descending over Aso in Kumamoto prefecture. A flight attendant who was already seated at the rear with her shoulder harness fastened suffered a compression fracture of a lumbar vertebra; she found out when she went to hospital four days later. The Japan Transport Safety Board (JTSB) put it down to a sudden change in wind direction and speed. The captain had switched on the seat-belt sign and told the crew to finish their work before the descent, so the report did not fault the crew.

Turbulence injuries are the most common accident type in Japan, and they weigh lightly in our scoring. The bigger question is length of record: twelve years with six to nine aircraft is too little flying to put Spring Japan in the top band, which is why its accident score (90) sits below Peach (94).

What happened with the Spring Japan cargo captain?

This is the event that costs Spring Japan most. On 18 March 2025 the captain of cargo flight IJ444 from Kitakyushu to Haneda reported for duty with alcohol still in his system, inside the 12 hours in which Spring Japan's rules forbid drinking. He did not take the required test at once. He told colleagues, including the first officer, that an energy drink was to blame, and tested himself again and again until nothing showed. Then he flew the aircraft, an Airbus A321 freighter.

Spring Japan reported the flight to the regulator the same day and, after its own review, told it on 22 April that the captain had broken its drinking rules. The Civil Aviation Bureau inspected the airline the next day. On 9 May 2025 it issued a strict warning, calling the breach deliberate and concealed, and said Spring Japan's alcohol testing and its safety management system were not working as they should, because no one questioned the repeated tests. The captain was dismissed, and in June 2025 the regulator suspended his licence for 90 days. Spring Japan filed its prevention plan on 30 May, which rebuilt its testing process.

No one was hurt and the captain was not found to be over the limit when he flew. Still, the regulator's finding was about the system, not only one pilot, and Peach and JAL received similar warnings in the same period.

What about the New Chitose runway incident?

On 27 November 2024, just before midnight, the same A321 freighter was cleared to land on runway 01R at New Chitose when the pilots saw a light on the runway. A construction vehicle had driven onto it. The crew asked the tower, saw the vehicle leave, and landed safely. The JTSB classed it as a serious incident and its investigation is still open. Nothing published so far points at Spring Japan's crew, who spotted the vehicle and questioned it, so we count it lightly.

What does Spring Japan fly?

Passengers fly on six Boeing 737-800s, each with 189 seats in one class. The 737-800 is a proven type but an older generation 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. Spring Japan does not publish an average age, and in April 2026 it said it was studying more aircraft and a successor type without deciding on either. That keeps the fleet score close to Skymark's, which is also all 737-800s but has 737-8s arriving.

The three A321 freighters are converted passenger jets leased by Yamato Holdings and flown by Spring Japan crews since April 2024. Yamato, JAL and Spring Japan said in September 2026 that the service will end by June 2027.

How to fly Spring Japan safely

Spring Japan's domestic routes to Saga and Hiroshima cross western Japan, where summer storms build quickly. The 2017 injury happened on descent in exactly that kind of air, so keep your belt fastened whenever you are seated, not only when the sign is on. China routes are short, but winter flights to Harbin face heavy snow and cold.

How we scored it

The accident record (90) has no deaths and no lost aircraft, but only one small fleet over twelve years. 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 (71) is a single older passenger type with no successor chosen. Serious incidents (76) carry the 2025 strict warning, and environment scores 85. Overall 84.