(), or , is the largest
Airline operator in Asia.
Two companies operate under the main JAL brand: and . JAL Domestic has primary responsibility for JAL's large network of intra-Japan flights, while JAL International operates both international and trunk domestic flights. JAL Corporation also owns seven smaller airlines which feed or supplement mainline JAL flights:
Among other distinctions, JAL has the largest fleet of
Boeing 747 s in the world (approximately 76, at
March 2005 ). It is one of only two
Asian airlines to fly to
Latin America (
Malaysia Airlines route to
Buenos Aires , JAL routes to
Mexico City and
São Paulo ).
The airline has signed a memorandum of understanding with the
world alliance, and is expected to join in
2007 .
American Airlines will be supporting JAL as its prime world sponsor, assisted by
Cathay Pacific .
was established in August
1951 , with the government of Japan recognizing the need for a reliable air transportation system to help Japan grow in the aftermath of
World War II . On
October 25 , using three
Northwest Airlines Martin 2-0-2 aircraft, and Northwest crews, Japan Air Lines began serving several domestic cities from Tokyo.
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On August 1,
1953 , the
Diet Of Japan passed the , forming a new state-owned , which assumed all assets and liabilities of its private predecessor on October 1. Its first aircraft, a
DC-3 named "Kinsei", was leased from
Philippine Airlines . Japan Airlines, in addition to the 2-0-2's, used
DC-3 ,
DC-4 ,
DC-6 and
DC-7 during the
1950s .
On February 2, 1954, Japan Airlines began its first international service, flying from
Tokyo to
San Francisco . This flight, operating on a
DC-6 B, made two stops before arriving in
San Francisco , one at
Wake Island and one in
Honolulu . A one-way ticket for the twice-weekly flight cost $650. To this day,
Tokyo to
San Francisco is Japan Airlines flight number 001.
In
1960 , Japan Airlines bought their first jet, a
DC-8 . Soon after, they decided to re-equip their airline, using jet airplanes only. That decade, many new international destinations were established.
Under the , the so-called "aviation constitution" enacted by the Japanese government in
1972 , JAL was granted
Flag Carrier status to operate international routes, and was also designated to operate domestic trunk routes in competition with
All Nippon Airways . During this era, JAL bought the
Boeing 747 , the
Boeing 727 and the
McDonnell Douglas DC-10 to accommodate their growing list of routes within Japan and to countries around the world. In the
1980 s Japan Airlines performed special flights for the Crown Prince of Japan and the Princess,
Pope John Paul II , and various Japanese prime ministers. During that decade they also began to be more promotionally aware, with
Plane Models and other
Promotional Item s being produced in quantity. It also bought new
Boeing 767 jets and retired the DC-8's and 727's.
Japan began mulling airline deregulation in the late 1970s, and the government announced the abandoning of the 45/47 system in 1985. In
1987 , Japan Airlines was completely privatised, and the other two airlines in Japan,
All Nippon Airways and
Japan Air System , were permitted to freely compete with JAL on domestic and international routes.
Japan Airlines began the
1990s with flights to help evacuate Japanese citizens from
Iraq before the start of the
Gulf War . In
1992 ,
Japan Air Charters was established, and in
1997 , an agreement with
The Walt Disney Company was announced, making Japan Airlines the official airline of
Disney Tokyo . That year also,
JALExpress had been established, with
Boeing 737 aircraft. Also in 1997, the airline had to fly the Japanese prime minister to
Peru to help negotiate in the Tupac Amaru kidnapping case. Japan Airlines acquired
Boeing 777 's during that decade.
In
2001 , Japan Air System and Japan Airlines agreed to merge. On
October 2 ,
2002 , they established a new holding company called , forming a new core of the JAL Group. Airplane liveries were changed to match the design of the new JAL Group. At that time, the merged group of airlines was the sixth largest in the world by passengers carried, and the third largest measured by revenue.
On
April 1 ,
2004 , JAL changed its name to , and JAS changed its name to '''Japan Airlines Domestic'''. JAS flight codes were changed to JAL flight codes, JAS check-in desks were refitted in JAL livery, and JAS aircraft were gradually repainted. On
June 26 , 2004, the parent company Japan Airlines System was renamed to '''Japan Airlines Corporation'''.
JAL applied to join the
Airline Alliance world on
October 25 ,
2005 . JAL already has code sharing on several members of world, including
American Airlines ,
British Airways ,
Cathay Pacific ,
Iberia and
QANTAS .
JALUX Inc., established 1962, is JAL's catering company which also does a variety of work for the company including the "De sky" line of snack foods, supplying JAL's 'Blue Sky' restaurants and 'JAL-DFS' shops, Aircraft fuel components, cabin services and In-flight duty-free. JALUX merged with JAS Trading on January 2004 to unify support operations for the JAL group.
Japan Airlines is one of the most widely known companies by model aeroplane collectors, their planes being produced in mass quantities by
Schabak ,
Wooster ,
Herpa ,
Flight Miniatures ,
Long Prosper and
Dragon Wings .
- On August 12 , 1985 , Japan Airlines Flight 123 , a 747 bound for Osaka International Airport , Itami / Toyonaka , suffered a crippling decompression shortly after takeoff from Tokyo International Airport , Ota , Tokyo , lost all its hydraulic systems and, after attempting to limp back to Tokyo, crashed into a mountain ; it was the worst single-aircraft disaster in history (and the second-worst air disaster in history); 520 out of 524 people on board died (excludes an unborn baby who died). Rescuers indicated that fewer people would have died had rescuers gone straight to the crash site instead of waiting until the following morning.
- On 22 January 2005 a Japan Airlines Boeing 777 -200 aircraft (with 211 people on board) at Sapporo airport, Japan , began its take-off run without being cleared to do so and was told by air traffic control to abort, which it did. The fault was compounded by the failure of the captain to report the event, for which the airline was reprimanded by the ministry of land, infrastructure and transport (ref: Flight International, July 2005).
- On August 12, 2005 metal fragments fell in a Fukuoka residential area from a JALways' DC-10 bound for Honolulu after an engine briefly caught fire, underlining JAL's recent poor safety record. A boy and a man were injured by fragments. The incident also happened exactly 20 years after Japan Airlines Flight 123. The plane was forced to return to Fukuoka Airport and land there. The sight of flames coming from the engine was captured by a NHK film crew which happened to be recording because the service to Hawaii is soon to be withdrawn as it is unprofitable. {Link without Title}
JAL and JAA are known for their onboard entertainment system called ''MAGIC''. The system is updated by JAL Entertainment Network (JEN) and features credit card phone, multiple movies, destination guides with immigration card filling instructions, active airplane stats, games and more. There are three generations of the MAGIC system: MAGIC-I, MAGIC-II, and MAGIC-III. The latest MAGIC-III system which is installed in
Boeing 767 and
Boeing 777 aircraft (also available on select
Boeing 747-400 aircraft), provides Audio/Video On Demand (AVOD) entertainment to the passengers. Recently, MAGIC systems have had the duty-free shopping catalogue added, including flight crew recommendations and a video of specials available on your flight. Aircraft with MAGIC-I and MAGIC-II have movies that automatically start once the AVOD system is turned on once the aircraft reaches cruise level. Passengers can tune in at any time of the movie. All movies restart upon completion. When the aircraft is in the pushback, taxi, takeoff, ascension, descension, stacking, landing, taxi, and docking, all TV's in the cabin automatically tune into the video camera outside the airplane to provide "Pilot Vision" to the passengers. This feature is common on many Japanese airlines.
The JAL Group have their own inflight magazine called Skyward reflecting on the company motto. Before merger with JAS ( The current JAL Domestic), JAL's inflight magazine was called Winds. All of the JAL Group magazines are provided by JALUX.
The Japan Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft (at November 2005; more aircraft at http://www.jal.co.jp/en/aircraft/):
The
Boeing Customer Codes for Japan Airlines are x for JAL International (pre-merger JAL aircraft) and x'''89''' for JAL Domestic (former
JAS aircraft); e.g. 777-3ER, 777-2'''89''', etc.
Aircraft disposed of include 8
Boeing 737-400 , 8
Boeing 747-100 , 6
Boeing 747SR (one now being used as a
NASA Shuttle Carrier Aircraft ), 19
Boeing 747-200 , 5
Boeing 747-300 and 10
McDonnell Douglas MD-11 aircraft.
In December
2004 , Japan Airlines announced the selection of the
Boeing 787 for its medium-size aircraft fleet. It is seeking for 30 aircraft, with options on 20 more. Delivery is expected to start in
2008 and the aircraft will be used on domestic and international routes (ref: Airliner World, March 2005).
Japan Airlines confirmed an order for six new
Boeing 767-300ER aircraft, three freighter and three passenger models, valued at approximately $800 million at list prices (ref:Airliner World, September 2005).
On October 31, 2005 Japan Airlines operated its last two to Narita International Airport touched down at 16:37, marking the DC-10's last flight with the airline, after over 30 years of reliable operations with the airline.
Since 1984, Japan Airlines has been and is currently the largest
Boeing 747 operator in the world.
The average age of Japan Airlines fleet is 12.1 years old in April 2006.
The JAL livery is called the "Arc of the Sun." The livery features the motif of a rising sun on a creamy parchment colored background. JAL is a strong supporter of
UNICEF and expresses its support by having a "We Support UNICEF" logo on each of the airline's aircraft.
