Japan Air Lines Cargo has announced that it will cease operating dedicated freighter aircraft cargo as JAL restructures itself in an effort to increase its profitability.
JAL Cargo currently operates a fleet of seven Boeing 747-400Fs and three 767-300Fs, and will gradually retire the aircraft over the coming year, and will instead concentrate on marketing belly space on JAL’s passenger services. These currently operate on all freighter routes, with the exception of Anchorage.
The cargo carrier has been suffering financially, with revenue tonne kilometres falling by 20 per cent during the fourth quarter of 2009 despite a recovery in traffic by other Asian cargo carriers. JAL also recently ended talks to merge the carrier with Nippon Cargo Airlines, but both carriers will continue their existing business relationship.
