JAL plans to suspend 50 domestic, int'l routes by FY 2011

Japan's national flag carrier is planning to suspend a total of 50 domestic and international routes by the end of fiscal 2011 through March 2012 as part of its restructuring measures, sources close to the matter said today.

Japan Airlines Corp (JAL) will suspend 29, or about 20 per cent, of its domestic routes and 21 international routes, a plan included in a draft of its business improvement plan submitted yesterday to a panel set up by the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry.

Cash-strapped JAL is considering suspending operation of routes at seven airports in Japan, including those in Kobe, Shizuoka and Hokkaido prefectures, and nine airports overseas.

"The figures (on route suspension and other measures) on JAL are still in progress so they may change," a senior transport ministry official said.

Of the international routes, JAL is studying suspending routes connecting Narita airport and Rome, Italy and San Paulo, Brazil, as well as routes linking Tokyo and Mexico and Osaka and Dalian, China, the sources said.