Japan Airlines Co. on Tuesday logged 2.11 billion yen ($14.22 million) in net loss for the six months ended in September, reporting red ink for the third straight year, as travel demand temporarily struggled to rebound during the seventh wave of COVID-19 infections in the country.
But it narrowed its loss substantially from the 104.98 billion yen logged from the same period last year, with the airline benefiting from robust domestic travel during the Golden Week holidays in May, JAL said.
Sales more than doubled to 618.52 billion yen, it said.
Although inbound flights from China have struggled to return to pre-pandemic levels as the country continues to pursue its zero COVID policy, the company was hopeful of a rebound from other areas, such as the United States.
"Reservations jumped threefold after (the Japanese government) announced an easing of border restrictions," Senior Managing Executive Officer Hideki Kikuyama said during a press conference.
Japan lifted anti-virus restrictions in all parts of the country in late March while it gradually raised its cap on daily international arrivals this year before entirely removing it earlier this month.
In the first half of fiscal 2022, JAL handled around 1.74 million inbound passengers, up nearly five times from the same period last year.
Passengers on domestic flights during the six months more than doubled to 13.7 million passengers.
"The overall number of passengers has returned to around 60 to 70 percent compared to pre-COVID conditions," Kikuyama said.
JAL's earnings report came after rival ANA Holdings Inc., the parent of All Nippon Airways Co., posted a net profit for the April-September period for the first time in three years.
Kikuyama noted that JAL continued to face risks such as the weakening of the yen against the U.S. dollar, as well as high fuel costs.
The company was weighed down by a jump of 9.58 billion yen in fuel costs, it said.
The airline maintained its net profit forecast of 45 billion yen for the business year ending in March.
It raised its sales outlook to 1.40 trillion yen from the 1.39 trillion yen forecast in May, on an expected surge of inbound flights.
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