Pandemic-hit Japanese airlines expand horizons in search of profit
Airlines in Japan are exercising their ingenuity to tap new income streams as their main lines of business suffer losses amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Major Japanese carriers have branched into new businesses or are wringing the last drops of value out of their retiring aircraft. With the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus compounding their worries, airlines are at a crucial juncture. This month, JAL was set to launch a business to assist Japanese companies in marketing their goods online to consumers in China. Using an exclusive page of the WeChat communication app from leading Chinese IT firm Tencent, JAL will help Japanese companies promote, sell and deliver their products. The airline will also support the tasks of collecting and delivering local specialties from around Japan. ANA Holdings last autumn began selling interior equipment from its aircraft through an online auction run by Yahoo Japan. Put up at auction were seats of the type used in first class on international flights, which normally would have been discarded when no longer needed, as well as window frames of large aircraft. Both JAL and ANA have also begun to sell their in-flight meals on the ground. Previously, they had sold such convenience food as instant noodles, but now both have upgraded their offerings to include frozen in-flight meals, which have become hit products. The airline industry remains in an enervated state, with passenger numbers on international flights yet to recover from a 90 per cent plunge from pre-pandemic levels. Even domestic flights tend to be less than half full, although the New Year holiday period has been an exception. Both airlines are expected to log a net loss on their consolidated statements for the fiscal year ending on March 31, marking a second consecutive annual loss. The awaited upturn in their performance has been slower than expected.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2022-01-03/star/pandemic-hit-japanese-airlines-expand-horizons-in-search-of-profit
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Pandemic-hit Japanese airlines expand horizons in search of profit
Airlines in Japan are exercising their ingenuity to tap new income streams as their main lines of business suffer losses amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Major Japanese carriers have branched into new businesses or are wringing the last drops of value out of their retiring aircraft. With the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus compounding their worries, airlines are at a crucial juncture. This month, JAL was set to launch a business to assist Japanese companies in marketing their goods online to consumers in China. Using an exclusive page of the WeChat communication app from leading Chinese IT firm Tencent, JAL will help Japanese companies promote, sell and deliver their products. The airline will also support the tasks of collecting and delivering local specialties from around Japan. ANA Holdings last autumn began selling interior equipment from its aircraft through an online auction run by Yahoo Japan. Put up at auction were seats of the type used in first class on international flights, which normally would have been discarded when no longer needed, as well as window frames of large aircraft. Both JAL and ANA have also begun to sell their in-flight meals on the ground. Previously, they had sold such convenience food as instant noodles, but now both have upgraded their offerings to include frozen in-flight meals, which have become hit products. The airline industry remains in an enervated state, with passenger numbers on international flights yet to recover from a 90 per cent plunge from pre-pandemic levels. Even domestic flights tend to be less than half full, although the New Year holiday period has been an exception. Both airlines are expected to log a net loss on their consolidated statements for the fiscal year ending on March 31, marking a second consecutive annual loss. The awaited upturn in their performance has been slower than expected.<br/>
