Japan Airlines (JAL) has announced a return to profitability in its 2022-2023 fiscal year, following two consecutive years of losses due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The national carrier reported a net profit of 34.4 billion yen (approximately €228 million) for the financial year that ended on March 31, 2023.
However, the net profit is still far from offsetting the cumulative net loss equivalent to €3.5 billion over the previous two financial years. Moreover, the net profit for 2022-2023 remains lower than its pre-pandemic 2019-2020 net profit of nearly €470 million.
JAL has seen a recovery in its passenger activity, including on international routes since the total lifting of health restrictions at Japan’s borders last fall. However, the airline suffered from the surge in oil prices last year due to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, which was further amplified by the fall of the yen. Its annual fuel costs have more than doubled over one year (+122.3%). JAL has mitigated this impact by reducing its fixed costs.
JAL’s main competitor All Nippon Airways (ANA) also announced a net profit of 89.5 billion yen (approximately €600 million) for its 2022-2023 financial year at the end of April 2023.