Airlines

Japan Airlines (JAL), as part of its financial turnaround plan, will be announcing a new round of route suspensions and reductions in services.

The announcement will probably be made tomorrow and involves suspension of services on eight domestic and 10 international routes, says a well-placed industry source familiar with the situation.

These changes will take effect in December and next year, says the source, adding that there will also be other routes that will experience a reduction in frequency.

The 10 international routes being suspended are: Tokyo Narita-Hangzhou, Vancouver-Mexico City, Tokyo Narita-Qingdao, Tokyo Narita-Xiamen, Osaka Kansai-Busan, Osaka Kansai-Hangzhou, Osaka Kansai-Hanoi and Singapore-Kuala Lumpur, says the source.

The eight domestic routes to be suspended are: Kitakyushu-Okinawa Naha, Kobe-Ishigaki, Kobe-Okinawa Naha, Kobe-Sapporo Chitose, Kobe-Tokyo Haneda, Nagoya Chubu-Hanamaki, Nagoya Chubu-Kumamoto and Nagoya Chubu-Kushiro.

JAL has been losing money and is in talks with the government for a financial bail-out.