JAL cargo down
07 / 02 / 2012
JAPAN Airlines’ international cargo transported during the first three quarters of 2011 in revenue cargo tonne kilometres (RCTK) declined by 44.2 per cent.
The carrier says suspension of freighters and capacity cuts – mostly from October last 2010 – were to blame. JAL logged revenue of 40.6 billion yen (US$527 million) in this segment.
Japan witnessed a modal shift of road and rail to airfreight following the earthquake and tsunami in March. From July 2011, JAL carried perishables from Hokkaido, Kyushu and Okinawa and made full use of the belly space of extra passenger flights operated at the year-end to capture peak domestic cargo demand.
Despite this, JAL capacity decreased by 22.5 per cent due to the downsizing of network and aircraft. The volume of domestic cargo transported in the first three quarters on a consolidated basis in RCTK terms declined year-on-year by 13.8 per cent and revenue generated from domestic cargo operations was 19.1 billion yen ($248 million).
