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Japan Airlines said on Friday that it had forecast an annual net loss of 240-270 billion yen after the coronavirus pandemic blocked air travel around the world.
The airline, Japan’s second-largest by market share, did not issue annual forecasts when it released first-quarter earnings in August, citing deep uncertainty surrounding the pandemic.
“The airline industry has been … affected in an unprecedented way and has fallen into very difficult circumstances” due to the pandemic, the company said in a statement.
“Many countries and areas still show no signs of slowing down the spread (of the infection), making the recovery in international passenger demand difficult to predict,” he added.
Japan Airlines suffered a net loss of 161 billion yen in the April-September period, plummeting from a gain of 54.2 billion yen for the same period a year ago.
Sales fell 74.0 percent to 194.8 billion yen, while it reported an operating loss of 224 billion yen.
The airline said domestic demand was beginning to pick up, but that “it will take longer … to fully recover.”
His announcement came after the country’s largest airline, ANA Holdings, forecast earlier this week a record net loss of $ 4.87 billion for this financial year.
Local media reported that the company plans to cut 3,500 jobs through a hiring freeze, while JAL also said it has decided to stop hiring for next year.
© 2020 AFP