Japan Airlines Corp. has started the process of selling 95 midsize and large aircraft, including jumbo jets, as part of its business turnaround program, sources have said.
The figure is equivalent to one-third of all the planes in the fleet of JAL, which is undergoing a court-supervised restructuring.
The airline hopes to complete the aircraft sale by the end of this year, along with the sale of 18 spare engines, the sources said.
JAL and its bankruptcy administrator, state-backed Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp. of Japan, have submitted the sale plan to the Tokyo District Court, the sources said.
The sale will include 41 Boeing 747-400 jumbo jets, 16 units of the McDonnell Douglas MD-90 and 18 units of the Airbus A300-600.
In a turnaround program JAL plans to submit to the court by the end of August, the carrier will lower the value of the aircraft by around 80 percent from the level estimated in its reconstruction plan compiled in January, in an effort to avoid additional losses stemming from the sale.
The company is believed to be aiming to raise more than ¥80 billion from the sale of the planes and spare engines.
JAL has already started negotiations with airlines, parts suppliers and financial institutions in Asia and the Middle East, the sources said. Terms have apparently been reached on the sale of some 30 percent of the targeted aircraft.
The airline is set to withdraw from 45 domestic and international routes by the end of the current fiscal year.