JAL plans route cuts in response to economic crisis
By Siva Govindasamy
Japan Airlines plans to respond to the global economic slowdown in the coming year by cutting unprofitable routes and getting two subsidiaries to increase their operations.
"JAL aims to better match supply to demand by conducting a bold review of its network and flight frequency, whilst continuing to implement its fleet strategy of aircraft downsizing," the airline said on Wednesday. It adds in a statement that the changes will take effect from the start of its new financial year on 1 April.
The carrier has already announced that it will suspend the daily service between Osaka Kansai and London Heathrow and double the flight frequency between Tokyo Narita and London Heathrow from seven to 14 flights per week. It will decrease the weekly flight frequency on the Narita-New York route from 14 to 10, on the Tokyo-Bangkok route from 21 to 14, and Narita to Seoul Incheon from 26 to 25.
It will add seven international connection services from Narita to Kansai, while decreasing the number of international connection services from Narita to Sapporo from 14 to seven.
JAL says that it will also decrease seat supply on seven routes through aircraft downsizing. For example, the Boeing 747-400 will be replaced by the smaller Boeing 777-200ER on the Tokyo-Sydney route and the Boeing 777-300ER on the Narita-Chicago and Narita-Los Angeles routes.
Domestically, the airline says that low-cost subsidiary J-AIR's operations will expand once it starts using the Embraer 170 regional jet from February. It adds that JAL Express will start operating on international routes for the first time in the next financial year, but it did not release details. The carrier also plans to suspend five flights out of Kansai, and reduce flights from Tokyo Haneda to Kansai from seven to six a week. It will, however, increase the frequency of flights on seven domestic routes.
It adds that it has adjusted its cargo network after looking at demand on each route with the aim of securing profitability. Cargo flights to Manila will be suspended, and JAL will start offering five flights a week to both Dalian and Tianjin, "increasing the airline's competitiveness in the northern China region". The airline is also in talks with Nippon Cargo Airlines regarding code share operations in the next fiscal year, and will make an announcement when there is a decision.
