Japan Airlines Corp. reported Friday that it returned to profit in the first half of the fiscal year as international travel recovered from a decline a year ago caused by the war in Iraq and the outbreak of SARS in Asia, and added that rising fuel costs will lead to fare increases.
JAL posted a group net profit of 82.9 billion yen, compared with a 57.5 billion yen loss posted in the same period a year before. The positive result was mainly attributed to a recovery in international passenger numbers and a boost in cargo revenues.
During the April-September period, the nation's largest airline posted a group operating profit of 86.8 billion yen, while its consolidated sales rose 14 percent to 1.08 trillion yen.