Japan Airlines posted a pretax loss of 16.97 billion yen in the year that ended March 31 due to increased fuel costs and a weaker yen, the firm announced May 30. The airline also reported a net loss of 9.2 billion yen. Although its total sales grew by about 80 billion yen, or 7.1 percent, to 1.2 trillion yen, the firm's record-high for sales, its operating profit dropped 10.8 billion yen, or 70.4 percent, to 4.6 billion yen due to the increased costs, the firm said.
The increase in fuel costs amounted to 32.4 billion yen and the depreciation of the yen brought cost increases of 2.2 billion yen, the firm said. "The increase of the fuel cost was beyond our anticipation," the firm's spokesman said.
Revenue from international passengers grew 8 percent due to good performance on routes to the United States, Southeast Asia and Europe. Revenue from routes to Guam, China and South Korea remained the same level as the year before, the firm said. International cargo grew 12.4 percent because cargo is often settled on a dollar basis and benefited from the weaker yen, the firm said.