JAL Group passenger traffic forecast for 2009 Golden Week vocation

Japan Airlines Group (JAL) announced the passenger traffic forecast on international and domestic routes for the traditional Japanese Golden Week vacation, stretching this year from April 28 to May 6, 2009. The number of international passenger reservations for flights departing Japan is presently up by 9.1% while domestic passenger reservations are down by 1.1% relative to the same vacation period in 2008.

 

International

International passenger reservations during the 9 day period, made up of a combination of public holidays and weekends, currently stand at 324,234 in total. The forecast seat load factor is 77%, up 11.4 percentage points versus the load factor on flights during the Golden Week vacation period in spring 2008.

Consequently from the decrease of fuel surcharge on international flights out of Japan from April 2009, passenger reservations to destinations in China, Hawaii and South East Asia during this period have seen a significant increase by 33.1%, 14.2% and 17.4% respectively. The load factors on Hawaii and South Korea routes are positive, albeit the slight increase in seat capacity. The forecasted load factor of JAL's transpacific flights also saw improvement after the downward adjustment of seat capacity by 15.3%.

JAL Group plans to operate 51 additional flights on international routes, including charter flights, to accommodate demand for travel to such destinations as Honolulu, Guam, South Korea, Palau, Bali and Saipan.

 

Domestic

JAL Group domestic passenger reservations total 1,030,240 during this Golden Week, 1.1% down on the same period last year. Due to the reduction in seat capacity by 2.8%, the seat load factor forecast of 64.3% remains close to that of the previous year.

JAL Group plans to operate an additional 54 flights on domestic Japan routes to support the demand for travel to such areas as Okinawa (Naha), as well as Sapporo.

 

Source: Transportweekly