JAL has good fiscal first quarter

With Japan enjoying a recovering economy at a modest pace, and with a little help from the U.S. West Coast port labor dispute, which increased airfreight demand, Japan Airlines (JAL) saw domestic freight tonne kilometers in its first quarter for fiscal year 2015 increase 9.7 percent, year-over-year. However, revenue decreased 0.5 percent to US$4.5 billion, due to “intensifying competition.”

International cargo traffic for FY2015’s first quarter (which began April 1) increased 9.4 percent , year-over-year, based on FTKs, with revenue increasing 5.1 percent to $ 11 billion. But overall the group’s revenue from both international and domestic cargo operations was up 3.5 percent, year-over-year.

The airline said Japan’s consumer spending was showing signs of improvement and that there was robust inbound demand, although the Japanese yen depreciated in the foreign exchange market.