NewTra

NewTra, short for The New Transportation Company, is a multinational airline headquartered near Tokyo International Airport. The airline has hubs in Tokyo (HND) in Japan, and Kaohsiung (KHH) and Chiayi (CYI) in Taiwan, and flies both domestically in these countries as well as internationally. NewTra focuses on providing adequate service (60) on routes with little competition. Despite being quite a new airline based in a hyper-competitive airport (HND), NewTra is in financial stability, never having to rely on loans, investments, or fuel to turn profits.

## Location

### Hubs

Tokyo (HND), Kaohsiung (KHH), Chiayi (CYI)

## History

NewTra was founded as The New Transportation Company, originally targeting unserved routes in Japan from Haneda with Embraer EMB-120 Brasilias. The company later expanded and acquired Embraer jets, and started operating flights to South Korea and Taiwan. Soon after, they ordered their first Boeing narrowbodies, increasing capacity to and from popular destinations, with 10 787-8 Dreamliners later added to their fleet to serve destinations between Japan or Taiwan to alliance members' important airports.

Recently, the firm has replaced the majority of its Embraers with Bombardier Q200s and Mitsubishi MRJ-100s. It is said the CEO of the company became ecstatic once he found out how profitable these aircraft were.

In week 12328, NewTra was the second airline to join the Mile High Club, in the same week as its founder, Sylvian Airlines. The company has opened a few routes mainly for the purpose of connecting alliance members.

During week 13934, NewTra championed its first major airport, Kaohsiung International Airport (KHH). Locals complained after the airline's Kaohsiung office was excessively loud during the night of the reveal.

In week 15266, the company reached top 9 in its home airport, Tokyo-Haneda, giving it champion points from its HQ for the first time.

### Future

Due to rising staff costs, the company seeks to expand capacity on pre-existing routes rather than opening new ones. Due to certain events, the airline is not planning on further expansion in China, and will only fly Kaohsiung - Shanghai in the long-term foreseeable future. The Dreamliners will, once the company can afford it, be replaced by Airbus A330-800neos.

## Fleet

\*Operated on airports where the DHC-8-300 requires too long of a runway.

\*\*Planned to replace the 787-8 models.

## Notable Events

### Advertising

NewTra has run advertisements and entered all banner competitions held so far. Ads often state the slogan in addition to the prices of flights.

This advertisement later had to undergo minor changes as they risked losing landing rights in Shanghai (PVG) (*See "Cross-Strait Controversy"*)

### Endorsement

The company has also been heavily endorsed by Sylvian Airlines. Sylvian's CEO said, among other things, that he "first met him [NewTra's CEO] last year at our school and he was kind of shy. But later on as I got to know him better he became one of my closest friends. Seeing him come so far and opening up to other people, as well as making sick banners really made me feel proud asf. Like "damn that my dawg right there look at him go" I hope all of you find a friend or a buddy as good as Newtra has been to me. [sic]" [1]

## Controversy

### Cross-Strait Controversy

NewTra's advertisements have alienated many Chinese passengers located in Mainland China due to using the Taiwanese flag to represent Taiwan cities instead of the Chinese flag. Although NewTra has not been banned from operating in Mainland China, they have been banned from broadcasting advertisements with the Taiwan flag and their notoriety in the domestic market forced NewTra to expand to other countries.

However, NewTra's success in the Taiwanese market is partially helped by the pro-Taiwanese messaging of its advertisements. Many prominent DPP and TSU politicians have supported NewTra and have personally flown with NewTra to attend overseas conferences. Their support led to many Taiwanese people switching from Chinese-based airlines to NewTra, to show solidarity with Taiwan. NewTra has also been linked to a wider campaign in Taiwan to boycott Chinese goods. In response to the developments, NewTra designed its "Connecting Kaohsiung" livery, with characteristics very similar to the Taiwanese flag.

By operating 11 routes between Japan and Taiwan, the company has also gained prominence in the development of the economic and political relationship between the two countries.

Some have wondered how the airline has retained its Kaohsiung - Shanghai route despite all this, and theories have emerged that due to the significant symbolism behind it, a forceful termination from either side of this route could potentially destabilize the status quo between the two regions.

### Price Increases

In the mid-13000s, NewTra increased the price of their American long-haul routes by 10% for both Economy and Business classes, citing inflation as a cause. This caused backlash by many consumers in Japan and Taiwan who argued the ticket prices in their countries should not increase as a result of inflation in the US. NewTra attempted to circumvent this by selling tickets for a 10% higher price on their website when the user was located in the US, but customers quickly caught on and revealed this, causing further anguish. The airline publicly apologized, and pledged to change its prices in accordance to a weighted average of destination countries' inflation.