The government, airlines and academia are trying to expand the nation's pool of future pilots to cope with expected manpower shortages that could reduce flight services.

Concern is growing as the large number of pilots now in their late 40s recruited during Japan's bubble economy from the late 1980s to early 1990s will be retiring around 2030.

Since highly specialized pilots cannot be trained immediately, the country is trying to secure more by boosting training schools' quotas and setting up a loan scheme for students eager to become pilots.