Japan Airlines to raise domestic ticket prices

Airline Industry Information, Oct 28, 2004

AIRLINE INDUSTRY INFORMATION-(C)1997-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

Japan Airlines (JAL) has announced that it will increase domestic air fares by JPY200-300 from 11 January 2005 to combat increasing fuel costs.

JAL increased its fares in July 2004 but recently said that its estimated fuel costs for the year ending March 2005 are in excess of JPY50m. JAL's main rival All Nippon Airways is expected to follow suit and raise its prices in the near future.

The airline said that the countermeasures it took to absorb or offset the increase in fuel costs were not enough to deal with the record oil prices. The Japanese Fair Trade Commission is set to approve the rise despite JAL's promise that it would not raise prices for three years after integrating with Japan Air System in 2002, reports Kyodo News.

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