Japan Airlines

**Japan Airlines Co., Ltd.** (**JAL**) (日本航空株式会社, *Nihon Kōkū Kabushiki-gaisha*), also known as **Nikkō** (日航), is an international airline, Japan's flag carrier, headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its main hubs are Tokyo's Narita International Airport and Tokyo International Airport (Haneda Airport), as well as Osaka's Kansai International Airport and Osaka International Airport. JAL group companies include **Japan Airlines**, J-Air, JAL Express, Japan Air Commuter, Japan Transocean Air, ZIPAIR Tokyo and Ryukyu Air Commuter for domestic feeder services, and JAL Cargo for cargo and mail services.

JAL group operations include scheduled and unscheduled international and domestic passenger and cargo services to 220 destinations in 35 countries worldwide, including codeshares. The group has a fleet of 279 aircraft. In the fiscal year ended 31 March 2009, the airline group carried over 52 million passengers and over 1.1 million tons of cargo and mail. Japan Airlines, J-Air, JAL Express, and Japan Transocean Air are members of the Oneworld airline alliance network.

JAL was established in 1951 and became the national airline of Japan in 1953.[6] After over three decades of service and expansion, the airline was fully privatised in 1987. In 2002, the airline merged with Japan Air System, Japan's third-largest airline and became the sixth-largest airline in the world by passengers carried. Japan Airlines is currently an official sponsor of Japan Football Association, Japan national football team, Shimizu S-Pulse, and Consadole Sapporo. All Nippon Airways, the largest airline in Japan, is JAL's main competitor.

## History

Japan Air Lines Co., Ltd. was established on 1 August 1951, with the government of Japan recognising the need for a reliable air transportation system to help Japan grow in the aftermath of the World War II. The airline was founded with an initial capital of ¥100 million; its headquarters are located in Ginza, Chūō, Tokyo. Between 27 and 29 August, the airline operated invitational flights on a Douglas DC-3 *Kinsei*, leased from Philippine Airlines. On 25 October, Japan's first postwar domestic airline service was inaugurated, using a Martin 2-0-2 aircraft, named *Mokusei*, and crew leased from Northwest Airlines.[*citation needed*]

On 1 August 1953, the National Diet passed the Japan Air Lines Company Act (日本航空株式会社法, *Nihon Kōkū Kabushiki-gaisha Hō*) forming a new state-owned Japan Air Lines on 1 October, which assumed all assets and liabilities of its private predecessor.[7][8][9][10] By 1953, the JAL network extended northward from Tokyo to Sapporo and Misawa, and westward to Nagoya, Osaka, Iwakuni, and Fukuoka.[11]

On 2 February 1954, the airline began international flights, carrying 18 passengers from Tokyo to San Francisco on a Douglas DC-6B *City of Tokyo* via Wake Island and Honolulu.[7][10][12][13] The flights between Tokyo and San Francisco are still Flights 1 and 2, to commemorate its first international service.[14] The early flights were advertised as being operated by American crews and serviced by United Air Lines in San Francisco.[15]

The airline, in addition to the Douglas DC-3, Douglas DC-6B, and Martin 2-0-2s, operated Douglas DC-4s and Douglas DC-7Cs during the 1950s.[7] JAL flew to Hong Kong via Okinawa by 1955, having pared down its domestic network to Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, and Sapporo.[16] By 1958, the Hong Kong route had been extended to Bangkok and Singapore.[17] With DC-7Cs, JAL was able to fly nonstop between Seattle and Tokyo in 1959

## Fleet

As of September 2021, The Japan Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft: