Japan Airlines eyes cutting 50 international, domestic routes+

TOKYO, April 3 Kyodo -
(EDS: ADDING BACKGROUND, DETAILS)
Japan Airlines Corp., now undergoing a state-backed rehabilitation process, is
considering axing about 20 international and 30 domestic routes after October,
far more than an earlier announced plan of cutting just over 30 routes, sources
close to the matter said Saturday.
Given sluggish passenger demand, major creditor banks, fearing the airline's
collapse, are calling for enhanced streamlining of operations, and JAL is also
convinced it needs to further slim down operations, the sources said.
The previous flight reduction plan was worked out by the government-affiliated
Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp., tasked with restructuring JAL, just
after JAL filed for bankruptcy protection in January.
The international routes that may be cut include those linking Tokyo's Narita
airport with San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Milan, Denpasar in Indonesia and Kona in
Hawaii, as well as those linking Nagoya's Chubu airport with Bangkok and
Tianjin and Guangzhou in China, and Osaka's Kansai airport with Bangkok,
Denpasar, Beijing, Guangzhou and Hong Kong.
Domestic routes subject to cuts include all JAL flights between Nagoya's Komaki
airport and nine provincial cities.
JAL will discuss the latest plan with its main creditor banks and will include
it in its overall turnaround plan to be mapped out by the end of June, the
sources added. The overall plan is also expected to feature jobs cuts of around
20,000 for the group.
While JAL Chairman Kazuo Inamori has said he cannot imagine a JAL without
international services, some within the government and creditor banks are
suggesting the airline shut down all its international operations or
concentrate on profitable routes to Asian cities.
Such differences of view could complicate the process of drawing up a
rehabilitation plan by the end of June, the sources said.
JAL is still estimated to be generating losses of several hundred million yen
per day, with the chief cause seen to be sluggish international services.
Passenger data show JAL lost 10.7 percent from a year earlier in January, the
fourth consecutive month of declines. This is in contrast to its rival All
Nippon Airways, which boosted its passengers by 13.7 percent for the sixth
straight month of rises. ANA focuses on routes to China.
JAL also registered drops in domestic passengers in January for the 15th
consecutive month.
==Kyodo