Japan Airlines has published its Q3 FY25 financial results, with the airline’s results improving across the board, including its revenues, profit, and operating margin.
The group ended the nine-month period with revenues of ¥1.5 trillion ($9.5 billion), an increase of around 9.2% year-on-year (YoY), which outpaced the growth rate of operating costs of 8.4%. Japan Airlines ended the period with a profit of ¥119.1 billion ($760.9 million).
Growing domestic revenue despite lower capacity
Despite capacity, measured in available seat kilometers (ASKs), falling by 0.3% YoY, the group carried 2 million more domestic passengers in the first nine months of FY25 compared to the same period in 2024. Load factors on domestic flights on the mainline Japan Airlines brand shot up by 6.1% to 83.6%, with domestic-only passenger revenue rising 7.3% YoY to ¥465.5 billion ($2.9 billion).
Japan Airlines attributed the growing revenues and passenger numbers to “flexible revenue management measures,” with the airline highlighting that in Q3 FY25, “the unit price is increasing year-on-year.”
The airline group also pointed out that it is exploring new ventures that would boost domestic travel. For example, partnering with Nakafurano Town in Hokkaido and Nichido Co., Japan Airlines will begin selling “stay-type tourism model,” marketed as JAL Auberge Furano, to “create a new year-round visitor flow by increasing journeys focused on food.”
Strong demand for JAL’s international services
Japan Airlines ended Q3 FY25 with nine-month international passenger-only revenues of ¥565.7 billion ($3.6 billion), up 9% YoY. Passenger volumes increased to 6 million, up 8.2% YoY, with Japan Airlines’ international capacity increasing by 6.7%. Average load factor rose 2.7% to 85.5%.
In response to growing demand for international services, the group increased frequencies on flights between Tokyo Narita International Airport (NRT) and Melbourne Airport (MEL), while also launching flights from NRT to Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL).w
Increasing low-cost carrier capacity
Meanwhile, for Spring Japan and ZIPAIR, the two low-cost carriers of the group, total revenue improved by 12% to ¥86.5 billion ($552.5 million), largely driven by international revenue of ¥72.4 billion ($462.1 million). Spring Japan’s load factors increased by 10.2%, with passenger numbers growing to 820,655 while capacity, measured in available seat kilometers (ASKs), grew by 13.8% YoY.
ZIPAIR, the group’s long-haul low-cost airline, increased ASKs by 19.1% YoY, with its load factors taking a hit of 8.6%. The carrier ended the period with only 1.4% more passengers carried compared to the corresponding period in 2024.
Japan Airlines admitted that ZIPAIR experienced a “temporary slowdown in inbound demand in the second quarter, but it has turned to a recovery phase in the third quarter alone.”
“Flexibly responding to the increasing demand in the LCC market, we achieved an increase in revenue year-on-year, while the number of aircraft remained the same as the previous year.”
