Posted on: Wednesday, August 6, 2003

JAL proposes cutting flights to Honolulu in October

Bloomberg News Service

TOKYO — Japan Airlines may halt flights in October to Honolulu from key regional cities, such as Sapporo, Sendai, Niigata and Hiroshima, an airline official said.

Gentaro Maruyama, managing director at JAL, said the company will file the plan with Japan's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry later this month.

Japan Airlines carried 2.3 percent more domestic passengers for the first quarter ended June 30 and 6 percent more in July, the company said. But the gain in domestic operations in the first quarter failed to make up for a slump in overseas demand for air travel, which was triggered by fears of severe acute respiratory syndrome.

The carrier predicted in May that average fares on international routes will increase 1 percent this year, while passenger numbers will fall by 14 percent.

Japan Airlines, Asia's largest carrier, also plans to raise average domestic fares this year as it focuses on higher-paying customers.