Japan Airlines System Corp. said Friday it posted a net profit of 3.7 billion yen in the October-December quarter, as flights to the United States and Europe began to recover after the Iraq war and the SARS outbreak.
The nation's largest carrier said that, while no comparative figure for a year earlier is available, it must have posted a deficit at the time.
The holding company of Japan Airlines Co. and Japan Air System Co. posted an operating profit of 5.4 billion yen and sales of 525.6 billion yen in the latest quarter.
The number of passengers to destinations in Asia did not recover as anticipated, as it plunged due to the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome.
But a rebound in the number of passengers on longer international flights offset the negative impact.
The JAL group said that revenue from its domestic flights surged 10.8 percent to 168.4 billion yen, mainly due to a July fare hike.
The carrier lowered its fares for domestic flights by 10 percent in October 2002, when JAL and JAS integrated their operations, following administrative directives.
But the group was allowed to set prices back at their previous levels after profits plunged due to the Iraq war and the SARS epidemic.