European overtures
Japan Airlines Cargo (JAL) has gone for a different kind of interline cooperation with an international partner. Last September it signed an agreement with LOT Cargo to market space on the Polish airline’s three weekly 787 flights between Tokyo and Warsaw. The agreement, which kicked off in January, gives JAL 15 tons per flight to sell. In addition, the Japanese carrier handles the incoming cargo on the LOT flights.
“As JAL does not have its own network from Japan to Poland, nor Central and Eastern Europe, it is also our pleasure that we can offer LOT’s high quality nonstop service from Narita to Warsaw, along with LOT’s massive network to central and Eastern Europe,” said Tsuyoshi Yamamura, JAL’s executive officer, cargo and mail, at the signing ceremony last September.
JAL said it is open to discussing cooperation with other airlines for the purpose of “giving our customers a good solution in the market,” said Kensuke Tsuchida, assistant manager, administration, cargo and mail, for JAL.
Partially as a result of this strategy, JAL’s own capacity is now on the rise. In fiscal 2015, it took delivery of six cargo-friendly 787s, including its first 787-9 variant. Seven more 787s are due for delivery in the new fiscal year, starting on April 1, which will bring the airline’s tally of Dreamliners to 33 at the end of fiscal 2016.
As much as JAL is thinking on a global scale these days, it is also trying to make its operations work cost-effectively back home in Tokyo. While its hub for Asia-North America flows remains at cargo-friendly Narita Airport, JAL said it wants to develop the trans-Pacific market “with the best combination of the capability of both Haneda and Narita airports,” Tsuchida said. In November, JAL started flights between Narita and Dallas/Fort Worth, operating four times per week with 787-8 equipment. In the main, however, its capacity is set to expand on routes to China and other Asian markets.
“We will increase volumes and maximize revenues by enhancing revenue management,” Tsuchida said. “We will capture mail and express shipments, whose growth is expected to continue, by optimizing the advantages of Haneda Airport and JAL Cargo’s high quality.”
Without signs of an imminent recovery of Japan’s exports and imports, the emphasis on expanding to higher-yielding segments and shifting its focus beyond its borders shows no sign of stopping for carriers and forwarders from the Land of the Rising Sun.
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