JAL Group Route, Flight Frequency and Fleet Plan for Second Half of FY2009
JAL Group announced today, the route, flight frequency and fleet plan for second half of FY2009 for its international passenger, domestic passenger and cargo businesses. In accordance with the FY2009 management plan, drastic adjustments are being made to the network and fleet size so as to more closely match capacity to demand sooner, and allow the Group to improve profitability. In the second half of this fiscal year, flight frequencies will be further reduced on a total of 8 international routes and the connections between Nagoya and 2 international destinations - Paris and Seoul (Incheon), will be discontinued. A major downsizing of aircraft in this period will affect 15 flights on 14 international routes, where jumbo 747-400s will be switched to medium-sized 777s and 767s, and medium sized 767s will be switched to even smaller 737s.
JAL will progress with the Premium Strategy that was first laid out in the FY2008-10 Medium Term Revival Plan issued in February 2008 which was also reiterated in the FY2009 Management Plan announced this May. The switch to the newest 777-300ER aircraft for the Tokyo-Chicago and Tokyo-Los Angeles routes this second half, will introduce the Group’s latest JAL Suite in first class, Shell Flat Neo in business class, and the new cabin category, Premium Economy, on these sectors. From October 25, 2009, together with the implementation of Shell Flat seats on flights to Milan and Rome, JAL will successfully complete the introduction of its award-winning executive class JAL Shell Flat Seat on all Europe and mainland North and South America routes. Reservations and ticket sales for the newly added Premium Economy on flights to Chicago and Los Angeles begin from August 10, 2009.
Also catering to business traffic, JAL will connect the capitals of Japan and China by adding a once-daily flight between Tokyo (Haneda) and Beijing, using a Boeing 777-200ER fitted with 63 executive class seats.