Japan Airlines will switch to smaller-capacity aircraft on six international passenger routes this fiscal year, and domestically will introduce its first Embraer regional jets and more Boeing 737-800s.
Smaller jets will enable JAL to increase its frequency of services from Tokyo Narita to New York, Paris, Busan, Hangzhou and Moscow.
Services from Tokyo Narita to San Francisco and New York will be served using Boeing 777-300s instead of Boeing 747-400s and services from Osaka Kansai to Guangzhou and from Nagoya to Busan will switch to Boeing 737-800s instead of continuing with Boeing 767-300s, says the carrier.
Throughout the fiscal year starting 1 April 2008, JAL will be retiring seven Boeing 747-400 passenger aircraft, two 767-300s and six Boeing MD-81s and adding three 777-300s and five Boeing 767-300s.
This month, the carrier will introduce its first of two Embraer 170s, which will be used mostly for domestic services from Nagoya. JAL will add nine 737-800s and plans to launch a daily service on 1 April from Osaka to Sendai and in March 2009 - when an airport opens in Shizuoka - it will launch a daily Shizuoka-Sapporo and a three-times-daily Shizuoka-Fukuoka service.
JAL plans to phase out its last three remaining Boeing 747-200 freighters and eventually replace them with 747-400Fs. Its plan is to have more direct routings for cargo services.
Source: Flight International
