JAL resumes services as nation's airlines seek to boost cargo business

JAPAN Airlines has resumed regular cargo flights on August 1 for the first time in nine years, and ANA Holdings Inc has introduced two cargo aircraft.

The two major Japanese airlines are actively operating in the field of freight transportation and are aiming to increase market share with the transportation of expensive products like electronic parts and pharmaceuticals.



These two Japanese airlines hope to capitalise on growing demand over the long term, with the view that air cargo between Asia and North America will continue to grow, mainly in the field of semiconductors.



In the meantime, however, trade friction between the US and China has become a concern.



The effects of trade friction between the US and China cannot be ignored. Air transportation sales of Nippon Cargo Airlines Co, a dedicated air cargo flight operator that is a subsidiary of major Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha, are beginning to drop.



'If the decline continues, reducing the number of flights could be an option,' said Shohei Yamamoto, managing corporate officer of Nippon Yusen. Each company needs to carefully assess risks for the time being.



At the beginning of August JAL launched scheduled cargo services between Narita Airport, near Tokyo, and Chicago. The codeshare flights are operated three times a week by Kalitta Air, a US air cargo company. After JAL went bankrupt in 2010, the company relinquished its nine cargo planes. According to an informed source, it has chosen the option of joint operation with the US company in order to reduce risk for their business, reports The Yomiuri Shimbun, Tokyo.



ANA has introduced two large Boeing 777 F cargo planes. The 777 F has a cargo capacity of about 100 tonnes, twice that of conventional planes and it is expected to transport items like large semiconductor manufacturing equipment.



Since July, ANA has been operating Boeing 777 F planes between Shanghai and two major Japanese airports - Narita and Kansai. According to an ANA official in charge of public relations, the new routes made a 'satisfactory start' with roughly 70 per cent cargo load factor. The company also plans to launch a route between Narita and Chicago in autumn using the same type of aircraft.



According to the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry, 4.13 million tonnes of international air cargo arrived and departed from Japan in fiscal 2017, about 1.2 times the amount in fiscal 2005.


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