JL said it intends to operate its published flight schedule as usual but some flights had to be cancelled because of reduced demand. London, Rome, Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Sao Paolo will be affected.
"Low demand on Japan-Europe routes on December 31 is partly attributable to cancellation of the sales of tours departing from Japan on that day by some major Japanese tour operating companies and travel agencies," an airline spokesman said. Japanese travel agencies are not selling year-end package tours because of concerns over the Y2K problem.
The Japan Travel Bureau (JTB) said it will lose about 6,000 clients while Kinki Nippon Tourist will lose 4,000.
JL emphasized that the airline was 100 per cent Y2K compliant. "The airline began preparing for the Year 2000 problem in 1995 with a survey of all computer systems and software, completed in June 1996," he said.
JL director for international public relations Geoffrey Tudor said that JL will not lose any significant amount but will save on operating costs. "Traffic demand on our other routes shows that many travellers are not fazed by the Y2K issue when it comes to flying. The cancellations to Europe are due to lack of demand from major tour operators who have cancelled departures on the 31st which involve flying through the roll-over," he said.
Operators claim that the decision not to sell year-end tours is a safety precaution, but Tudor said: "In many cases, it seems they could not get rooms in Europe on December 31 because so many Europeans are having parties in hotels on New Year's eve."
JL also announced it will try to avoid departure and arrival of 12 flights during the Y2K "rollover period", both at local times and at Greenwich Mean Time.