Airline revenue awaiting take off

AIRLINE revenues have failed to take off during the first half of the 1999 fiscal year, ending September 30, despite the appreciation of the yen and the improvement in inbound and outbound traffic.

Japan Airlines (JL) reported an increase in passengers but its unconsolidated revenue dropped Ľ599 billion, down 2.6 per cent last year. Its pretax profit plunged by 36 per cent to Ľ18.7 billion.

The decline in profits was attributed to passengers' preference for low-cost services and the trend is expected to continue in the second half of the fiscal year.

JL is projecting its revenue for the current fiscal year, ending March 2000, to drop to Ľ1.14 trillion from Ľ1.16 trillion last fiscal year. Profits are also expected to drop significantly to Ľ8 billion from Ľ24.82 billion last year.

All Nippon Airways reported operating revenues of Ľ469 billion, up 0.1 per cent and an operating income of Ľ21.87 billion, up 264 per cent. However, current profits dropped 36.1 per cent to Ľ15.12 billion.

Japan's third largest airline, Japan Air System, reported a revenue of Ľ175.9 billion, up 2.7 per cent because of the 80 per cent increase in sales of international passenger tickets.