JAL may cut select flights in fall

By Kelly Yamanouchi
Advertiser Staff Writer

While Japan Airlines is considering a temporary reduction of Hawai'i flights from Sendai, Niigata, Hiroshima and Sapporo this fall, major routes from Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka probably would be maintained. Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser

The airline has had trouble making money on flights departing from regional airports, including Sendai, Niigata, Hiroshima and Sapporo, said Gilbert Kimura, Japan Airlines' director of passenger and cargo sales in Hawai'i.

Major routes from Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka would likely be maintained.

Kimura said the airline has not indicated whether there will be increases in flights from larger airports in the fall that might make up for decreases in flights from smaller cities.

Last week, Japan Airlines said it would add one more Honolulu flight per day out of both Tokyo and Osaka for the summer season. Beginning next month, Japan Airlines will increase Osaka flights from seven to 14 per week and increase Tokyo flights from 14 to 21, which is seven fewer than usual for the summer season. JAL officials hope to increase Tokyo flights again in August.

Kimura said the routes from smaller cities have lost money and the airline needs to concentrate on routes that have more potential. It's a "lean and mean" strategy, he said.

"Airlines have really lost money because of the war, SARS and all the economy," Kimura said.

JAL's consideration of flight cuts later this year comes as some other airlines, including Cathay Pacific Airways, United Airlines and Continental Airlines, restore flights between Asia and the Mainland for the summer. Added flights to Hong Kong and other Asia destinations are viewed as a sign of recovery by the travel industry from fliers' fears of contracting severe acute respiratory syndrome.

Japan Airlines operates about 70 flights to Hawai'i each week. That includes two weekly flights from Hiroshima, four from Sendai, two from Niigata and six from Sapporo. Flights from the four cities make up about 20 percent of the airlines' total number of flights to Hawai'i.

"Some of the smaller regional airports, I don't think we're able to make it profitable for airlines to fly international," Kimura said.

Ryokichi Tamaki, vice president of tour wholesaler Jalpak International Hawai'i Inc., a JAL group affiliate, said the possibility of cutbacks comes as a big surprise.

"We're pretty shocked," said Tamaki, who noted that Japanese from smaller cities come to Hawai'i to warm up during the colder months in Japan.

Japanese travel companies expect a recovery later this year in travel to Hawai'i, but any fall flight reductions would mean that "from October, we are having another squeeze," Tamaki said.

Now that Japan Airlines has merged with Japan Air Systems, a major domestic carrier, it is also considering a hub system similar to that used by major U.S. airlines. Tokyo and Osaka would likely be hub cities, Kimura said.

The airline is also considering retiring older planes, including DC-10s that fly to Hawai'i, and purchasing newer planes such as 767s, which are more fuel-efficient and more profitable to operate.

USA Today contributed to this report.