Japan Airlines (JAL), Asia’s biggest carrier, said on Friday that it lost US$1 billion in the last quarter as the global economic downturn and swine flu fears triggered a severe slump in demand.
The group announced drastic cuts to its flight services as it braces for a second straight year in the red.
The net loss ballooned to ¥99.04 billion (US$1 billion) in the April-June quarter, from ¥3.41 billion in the same period of last year, a company statement said.
PHOTO: AP
The carrier swung to an operating loss of ¥86.11 billion from a year-earlier profit of ¥3.91 billion.
Revenue slumped 31.7 percent to ¥334.9 billion, more than offsetting the positive effect of operating cost reductions of ¥65.4 billion.
“In the face of the severe business environment and the impact of the new influenza since May ... our earnings results turned out to be very grim,” JAL senior vice president Yoshimasa Kanayama told reporters.
“We strived to cut costs,” he said. “But it was not enough to offset the drop in income.”
JAL maintained its forecast for a loss of ¥63 billion in the year to March next year, after ending last year ¥63.2 billion in the red.
There are some signs of a recovery in travel by leisure passengers thanks to receding swine flu fears and lower fares, it said.
“The first-quarter results were certainly severe. As far as revenue is concerned, however, there are somewhat bright signs for September onwards. Various cost cuts will also take effect,” Kanayama said.
But “business demand is unlikely to recover sharply,” he said.
Passenger demand on JAL’s international routes plunged 18.6 percent in the first quarter, while domestic routes saw a fall of 12.4 percent.
“While business travel is projected to remain slow, JAL will persevere in the drastic adjustments to our network,” the company said.
JAL said it would reduce flights on eight international routes within Asia from Oct. 25 and suspend services between Nagoya in central Japan and Paris as well as between Nagoya and Seoul.
It will also cut the number of flights on six domestic routes and downsize to smaller planes on 14 international passenger routes and one domestic route.
In May, JAL announced 1,200 job cuts — or about 2.5 percent of its workforce — in addition to the more than 10,000 posts it has shed since 2005.
All Nippon Airways, Japan’s second-biggest carrier, last week posted a net loss of ¥29.2 billion for the quarter to June, compared with a profit of ¥6.6 billion in the same period the previous year.
It aims to end the year to March next year in profit, however, helped by cost cuts and an expected gradual improvement in passenger numbers.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique