Japan Airlines said Thursday that it is buying 42 airplanes from Boeing and Airbus as part of a drive to boost its international and domestic operations.
32 new aircraft from Airbus and 10 from Boeing in orders worth billions of dollars.
The firm said it would “introduce a total of 21 Airbus A350-900 aircraft from Airbus, along with 11 A321neo aircraft, and 10 Boeing 787-9 aircraft from The Boeing Company, as part of its fleet renewal plan”.
A spokesperson declined to comment on the financial details of the orders when contacted by AFP.
But a separate statement listed the “catalogue” prices of the planes, which in total comes to around $12.9 billion.
One of the Airbus A350-900 planes is to replace one of the same model destroyed in an accident with another airplane at Tokyo’s Haneda airport on January 2, it said.
All 379 people on board the JAL Airbus escaped just before the aircraft was engulfed in flames, but five of the six people on the smaller aircraft died.
The airline said it will add 20 Airbus A350-900 aircraft and 10 Boeing 787-9 to its international routes, adding to its existing fleet of more than 50 Boeing 787-series planes.
“These new aircraft introductions aim to enhance and expand the capacity of JAL’s international operations, with a primary focus on regions such as North America, Asia, and India where future growth is expected,” it said in a statement.
On domestic routes, JAL will introduce 21 Boeing 737-8 aircraft to replace its current Boeing 737-800 fleet, starting from 2026, it said.
Additionally, to update their existing fleet of medium-sized Boeing 767 aircraft, JAL will introduce 11 Airbus A321neo aircraft.
This marks the first time that JAL, which is Japan’s second-biggest airline after All Nippon Airways (ANA), will introduce the model, it said.
The introduction of both aircraft types is planned over a period of approximately six years, starting in 2027.
JAL added that it “remains committed to steadily advancing the introduction of fuel-efficient aircraft as part of its efforts to achieve its CO2 emissions reduction targets”.
The goals include a 10 percent reduction in total emissions compared to 2019 by fiscal year 2030, and near-zero emissions by fiscal year 2050, it added.
There was no comment from Airbus or Boeing.
American Airlines this month ordered 260 new planes from Airbus, Boeing and Brazil’s Embraer.
The Airbus order was worth upwards of $11 billion, based on list prices, while the Boeing order was worth some $11.5 billion and Embraer’s more than $7 billion.
AFP
